f
THE DESERT HOME.





fWBlJC tJBRART



Lincoln with the Bighorn.
P. 21.


THE DESERT HOME
ADVENTURES OF A LOST FAMILY
IN THE WILDERNESS.
CAPTAIN MAYNE £E I D,
Author of "The Rifle-Rangers," &e.
WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY WILLIAM HARVEY
LONDON: ^'
DAVID BOGUE, FLEET STREET.
M.DCOC.LII.
HR


"1 V
/"» o o V ■
ft . j
AS^i*», LXNSX AND
TILDA* rCt'NDATlUNS
H i»24 L


CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
1. THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT . . 1
n. THE WHITE PEAK . . . . .12
in. THE VALLEY OASIS . . . . .20
IV. THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT . . .30
V. rolfe's EARLY HISTORY . . . .42
VI. THE VIRGINIA PLANTATION . .47
TO. THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE . . .54
VIII. THE MINER'S STORY . . . .67
IX. LOST IN THE DESERT . . . .8]
X. ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO . . 95
XI. A VERY LEAN BUFFALO . . . .105
XII. THE BIGHORNS . . . .120
XIII. THE GREAT ELK ..... 133
XIV. ADVENTURE WITH THE CARCAJOU . . 148
XV. A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR A TRAIL . . 157


IV CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
XVI. THE MYSTERIOUS FLOOD . . .165
XVII. THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE . . 175
XVIII. HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIN . . .187
XTX. THE SAGACIOUS SQUIRREL . . .194
XX. A HOUSE BUILT WITHOUT A NAIL . . 201
XXI. A BATTUE OF " BLACK-TAILS." . . 209
XXII. CATCHING A TARTAR .... 220
XXIII. THE SALT SPRING . . . .231
XXIV. THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES . . 243
XXV. THE SUGAR-TREE .... 256'
XXVI. THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE 269
XXVII. THE SNOW LINE ..... 284
XXVIII. THE MENAGERIE, AVIARY, AND BOTANIC
GARDEN 295
XXIX. TRAPPING THE BEASTS AND BIRDS . . 303
XXX. THE BITERS BIT . . . .312
XXXI. BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE 319
XXXII. THE CUNNING OLD " 'COON" . . 330
XXXIII. LITTLE MARY AND THE BEE . . . 338
XXXIV. A GRAND BEE-HUNT . . . 346
XXXV. A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER . . . 360
XXXVI. THE BATTLE OF THE BUCKS . . 373


CONTENTS. V
CHAP. PAGE
XXXVII. THE PIT-TRAP 383
XXXVIII. THE OLD "'POSSUM" AND HER KITTENS 397
XXXIX. THE MOCCASON SNAKE AND THE ORIOLES 406
XX. THE BATTLE OF THE COUGAR AND PEC-
CARIES . . . . .413
XLI. BESIEGED IN A TREE .... 426
XLTI. AN ADVENTURE WITH DUSKY WOLVES . 435
XLIII. TAMING THE GREAT ELK . .441
XLIV. CATCHING THE WILD HORSES . . 448


lIlBStratiflits.
a
PAGE
I.
LINCOLN WITH THE BIGHORN (FrotUiapiax)
31
II.
DOGS DEFENDING A CHILD FROM WOLVES
65
III.
HARRY KILLS A PRONG-HORNED ANTELOPE .
114
IV.
THE WOUNDED ELK AT BAY
145
V.
THE OX KILLED BY THE CARCAJOU
IfiS
VI.
THE WOLVERENE AND THE BEAVERS .
184
vn.
THE ESCAPE OF THE SKUNK
225
VIII.
THE STOREHOUSE OF SUGAR-MAPLES .
268
IX.
THE MARTEN AND THE PORCUPINE
323
X.
THE BEAR IN THE HONEY-TREE .
368
XI.
THE OPOSSUM AND THE ORIOLES
402
XII.
BESIEGED BY PECCARIES .
433


THE DESERT-HOME.





CHAPTER I.
THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
There is a great desert in the interior of North
America. It is almost as large as the famous Saara
of Africa. It is fifteen hundred miles long, and a
thousand wide. Now, if it were of a regular shape
— that is to say, a parallelogram—you could at
once compute its area, by multiplying the length
upon the breadth; and you would obtain one million
and a half for the result—one million and a half
of square miles. But its outlines are as yet very
imperfectly known; and although it is fully fifteen
hundred miles long, and in some places a thousand
in breadth, its surface-extent is probably not over
one million of square miles, or twenty-five times
the size of England. Fancy a desert twenty-five
times as big as all England! Do you not think
*■ ".• B


THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
that it has received a most appropriate name when
it is called the Great American Desert?
Now, my young friend, what do you understand
by a desert? I think I can guess. When you
read or hear of a desert, you think of a vast level
plain, covered with sand, and without trees, or
grass, or any kind of vegetation. You think, also,
of this sand being blown about in thick yellow
clouds, and no water to be seen in any direction.
This is your idea of a desert, is it not? Well, it
is not altogether the correct one. It is true that
in almost every desert there are these sandy plains,
yet are there other parts of its surface of a far
different character, equally deserving the name of
desert. Although the interior of the great Saiira
has not been fully explored, enough is known of it
to prove that it contains large tracts of mountainous
and hilly country, with rocks and valleys, lakes,
rivers, and springs. There are, also, fertile spots,
at wide distances from each other, covered with
trees, and shrubs, and beautiful vegetation. Some
of these spots are small, while others are of large
extent, and inhabited by independent tribes, and
even whole kingdoms of people. A fertile tract
of this kind is called an oasis; and, by looking


THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT. 3
at your map, you will perceive that there are many
oases in the Saara of Africa.
Of a similar character is the Great American
Desert; but its surface is still more varied with
what may he termed " geographical features." There
are plains—some of them more than a hundred miles
wide—where you can see nothing but white sand,
often drifting about on the wind, and here and there
thrown into long ridges such as those made by a snow-
storm. There are other plains, equally large, where
no sand appears, but brown barren earth utterly
destitute of vegetation. There are others, again, on
which grows a stunted shrub with leaves of a pale
silvery colour. In some places it grows so thickly,
interlocking its twisted and knotty branches, that a
horseman can hardly ride through among them.
This shrub is the artemisia—a species of wild sage
or wormwood,—and the plains upon which it grows
are called by the hunters, who cross them, the sage
prairies. Other plains are met with that present a
black aspect to the traveller. These are covered with
lava, that at some distant period of time has been
vomited forth from volcanic mountains, and now
lies frozen up, and broken into small fragments like
the stones upon a new-made road. Still other plains


4 THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
present themselves in the American Desert. Some
are white, as if snow had fallen freshly upon them,
and yet it is not snow, but salt! Yes; pure white
salt—covering the ground six inches deep, and for
fifty miles in every direction! Others, again, have
a similar appearance; but instead of salt, you find
the substance which covers them to be soda—a beau-
tiful efflorescence of soda!
There are mountains, too—indeed, one-half of the
Desert is very mountainous; and the great chain of
the Rocky Mountains—of which you have no doubt
heard—runs sheer through it from north to south,
and divides it into two nearly equal parts. But
there are other mountains besides these; mountains
of every height, and sometimes in their shape and
colour presenting very striking and singular appear-
ances. Some of them run for miles in horizontal
ridges like the roofs of houses, and seemingly so
narrow at their tops that one might sit astride of
them. Others, again, of a conical form, stand out
in the plain apart from the rest, and look like tea-
cups turned upon their mouths in the middle of
a table. Then there are sharp peaks that shoot
upward like needles, and others shaped like the
dome of some great cathedral—like the dome of St.


THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
5
Paul's. These mountains are of many colours.
Some are dark, or dark green, or blue when seen
from a distance. They are of this colour when
covered by forests of pine or cedar, both of which
trees are found in great plenty among the moun-
tains of the Desert.
There are many mountains, where no trees are
seen, nor any signs of vegetation along their sides.
Huge naked rocks of granite appear piled upon each
other, or jutting out over dark and'frowning chasms.
There are peaks perfectly white, because they are
covered with a thick mantle of snow. These can
always be seen from the greatest distance, as the
snow lying upon them all the year without melting
proves them to be of vast elevation above the level
of the sea. There are other peaks almost as white,
and yet it is not with snow. They are of a milky
hue, and stunted cedar-trees may be seen clinging
in seams and crevices along their sides. These are
mountains of pure limestone, or the white quartz
rock. There are mountains, again, upon which
neither tree nor leaf is to be seen; but, in their
stead, the most vivid colours of red and green and
yellow and white, running in stripes along their
sides, as though they had been freshly painted.


6
THF GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
These stripes mark the strata of different coloured
rocks, of which the mountains are composed. And
there are still other mountains in the Great Ame-
rican Desert, to startle the traveller with their
strange appearance. They are those that glitter
with the mica and selenite. These, when seen from
a distance flashing under the sun, look as though
they were mountains of silver and gold!
The rivers, too. Strange rivers are they. Some
run over broad shallow beds of bright sand. Large
rivers—hundreds of yards in width, with sparkling
waters. Follow them down their course. What do
you find? Instead of growing larger, like the rivers
of your own land, they become less and less, until
at length their waters sink into the sands, and
you see nothing but the dry channel for miles upon
miles! Go still farther, and again the water appears,
and onward increases in volume, until—thousands of
miles from the sea—large ships can float upon their
bosom. Such are the Arkansas and the Platte.
There are other rivers that run between bleak,
rocky banks—banks a thousand feet high, whose
bald, naked "bluffs" frown at each other across
the deep chasm, in the bottom of which roars the
troubled water. Often these banks extend for hun-


THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT. 7
dreds of miles, so steep at all points that one cannot
go down to the bed of their stream; and often —
often—the traveller has perished with thirst, while
the roar of their water was sounding in his ears!
Such are the Colorado and the Snake.
Still others go sweeping through the broad plains,
tearing up the clay with their mighty floods, and
year after year changing their channels, until they
are sometimes an hundred miles from their ancient
beds. Here they are found gurgling for many
leagues under ground—under vast rafts formed by
the trees which they have borne downward in their
current. There you find them winding by a thousand
loops like the sinuosities of a great serpent,.rolling
sluggishly along, with waters red and turbid as though
they were rivers of blood! Such are the Brazos and
the Red.
Strange rivers are they that struggle through the
mountains, and valleys, and plateau-lands of the
Great American Desert.
Not less strange are its lakes. Some lie in the
deep recesses of hills that dip down so steeply you
cannot reach their shores; while the mountains
around them are so bleak and naked, that not even
a bird ever wings its flight across their silent waters.


8
THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
Other lakes are seen in broad, barren plains; and
yet, a few years after, the traveller finds them not—
they have dried up and disappeared. Some are fresh,
with waters like crystal—others brackish and muddy
—while many of them are more salt than the ocean
itself.
In this Desert there are springs — springs of
soda and sulphur, and salt waters; and others so hot
that they boil up as in a great caldron, and you could
not dip your finger into them "without scalding it.
There are vast caves piercing the sides of the
mountains, and deep chasms opening into the plains—
some of them so deep, that you might fancy moun-
tains had been scooped out to form them. They are
called "barrancas." There are precipices rising
straight up from the plains—thousands of feet in
height—and steep as a wall; and through the moun-
tains themselves you may see great clefts cut by the
rivers, as though they had been tunnelled and their
tops had fallen in. They are called " cafions." All
these singular formations mark the wild region of
the Great American Desert.
It has its denizens. There are oases in it; some of
them large, and settled by civilized men. One of
these is the country of New Mexico, containing


THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
9
many towns, and 30,000 inhabitants. These are of
the Spanish and mixed Indian races. Another oasis
is the country around the Great Salt and Utah
Lakes. Here is also a settlement, established in
1846. Its people are Americans and Englishmen.
They are the Mormons; and, although they dwell
hundreds of miles from any sea, they will in time
become a large and powerful nation of themselves.
Besides these, two great oases, there are thousands
of others of all sizes—from fifty miles in breadth, to
the little spot of a few acres, formed by the fertilizing
waters of some gurgling spring. Many of these are
without inhabitants. In others, again, dwell tribes
of Indians—some of them numerous and powerful,
possessing horses and cattle; while others are found
in small groups of three or four families each, sub-
sisting miserably upon roots, seeds, grass, reptiles,
and insects. In addition to the two great settle-
ments we have mentioned, and the Indians, there is
another class of men scattered over this region.
These are white men—hunters and trappers. They
subsist by trapping the beaver, and hunting the
buffalo and other animals. Their life is one con-
tinued scene of peril, both from the wild animals
which they encounter in their lonely excursions, and


10
THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
the hostile Indians with whom they come in contact.
These men procure the furs of the beaver, the otter,
the musk-rat, the marten, the ermine, the lynx, the
fox, and the skins of many other animals. This is
their business, and by this they live. There are
forts, or trading posts—established by adventurous
merchants—at long distances from each other ; and at
these forts the trappers exchange their furs for the
necessary implements of their perilous calling.
There is another class of men who traverse the
Great Desert. For many years there has been a
commerce carried on between the oasis of New
Mexico and the United States. This commerce
employs a considerable amount of capital, and a great
number of men—principally Americans. The goods
transported in large wagons drawn by mules or
oxen; and a train of these wagons is called a
"caravan." Other caravans—Spanish ones—cross
the western wing of the Desert, from Sonora to Cali-
fornia, and thence to New Mexico. Thus, you see,
the American Desert has its caravans as well as the
Saara.
These caravans travel for hundreds of miles
through countries in which there are no inhabi-
tants, except the scattered and roving bands of


THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
11
Indians; and there are many parts so sterile, that
not even these can exist in them.
The caravans, however, usually follow a track
which is known, and where grass and water may be
found at certain seasons of the year. There are
several of these tracks, or, as they are called,
"trails," that cross from the frontier settlements of
the United States to those of New Mexico. Between
one and another of them, however, stretch vast
regions of desert country—entirely unexplored and
unknown—and many fertile spots exist, that have
never been trodden by the foot of man.
Such, then, my young friend, is a rough sketch of
some of the more prominent features of the Great
American Desert.
Let me conduct you into it, and show you—from a
nearer view—some of its wild but interesting aspects.
I shall not show you the wildest of them, lest they
might terrify you. Fear not—I shall not lead you
into danger. Follow me.


12
THE WHITE PEAK.
CHAPTER II.
THE WHITE PEAK.
Some years ago, I was one of a party of "prairie
merchants," who crossed with a caravan from St.
Louis on the Mississippi, to Santa Fe in New Mex-
ico. We followed the usual " Santa Fe trail." Not
disposing of all our goods in New Mexico, we kept
on to the great town of Chihuahua, which lies farther
to the south. There we settled our business, and
were about to return to the United States the way
we had come, when it was proposed (as we had now
nothing to encumber us but our bags of money),
that we should explore a new "trail" across the
prairies. We all wished to find a better route than
the Santa Fe road; and we expected that such an
one lay between the town of El Paso—on the Del
Norte River—and some point on the frontiers of
Arkansas.
On arriving at El Paso, we sold our wagons, and


THE WHITE PEAK.
13
purchased Mexican pack-mules—engaging, at the
same time, a number of "arrieros," or muleteers to
manage them. We also purchased saddle-horses—
the small tight horses of New Mexico, which are
excellent for journeying in the Desert. We provided
ourselves, moreover, with such articles of clothing
and provisions as we might require upon our unknown
route. Having got everything ready for the journey,
we bade adieu to El Paso, and turned our faces east-
ward. There were in all twelve of us—traders, and
a number of hunters, who had agreed to accompany
us across the plains. There was a miner, too, who
belonged to a copper mine near El Paso. There
were also four Mexicans—the "arrieros" who had
charge of our little train of pack-mules. Of course,
we were all well armed, and mounted upon the best
horses we could procure for money.
We had first to cross over the Rocky Mountains,
which run north and south through all the country.
That chain of them which lies eastward of El Paso is
called the Sierra de Organos, or " Organ mountains."
They are so called from the fancied resemblance which
is seen in one of their cliffs to the tubes of an organ.
These cliffs are of trap-rock, which, as you are aware,
often presents very fantastic and singular formations,


14
THE WHITE PEAK.
by means of its peculiar stratification. But there is
a still more curious feature about these Organ moun-
tains. On the top of one of them is a lake, which
has its tides that ebb and flow like the tides of the
ocean! No one has yet accounted for this remark-
able phenomenon, and it remains a puzzle to the
geological inquirer. This lake is a favourite resort
for the wild animals of the country, and deer and elk
are found in great numbers around its shores. They
are not even molested by the Mexican hunters of
these parts, who seem to have a superstitious fear of
the spirits of the Organ mountains, and rarely climb
up their steep sides.
Our party found an easy pass through the range,
which brought us out into an open country on the
other side. After travelling several days through
the eastern spurs of the Rocky Mountains, we struck
upon a small stream, which we followed downward.
It brought us at length to a large river running north
and south, which we knew to be the celebrated
Pecos, or, as it is sometimes called, the Puerco.
These, you will perceive, are all Spanish, names,
for the country through which we were travelling,
although uninhabited and even unexplored by the
Mexican Spaniards, was yet part of their territory;


THE WHITE PEAK.
15
and such objects as were known to them, through
hunters or others, had received names in their lan-
guage.
We crossed the Pecos, and travelled for some
days up its left bank, in hopes of reaching some
other stream that might run into it from the east,
which we could follow. No such stream appeared;
and we were forced at times to leave the Pecos itself,
and take out into the open country for a distance of
miles, before we could get back to its waters. This
was on account of the deep channel which the river—
working for long ages—had cut through hills that
opposed its course, leaving on both sides vast preci-
pices for its banks.
Having now got farther to the north than we
wished, our party at length determined to attempt
the passage of the arid plain which stretched away
eastward as far as the eye could reach. It was a
perilous enterprise to leave the river, without some
knowledge that there was water ahead of us. Tra-
vellers, under such circumstances, usually keep close
to a stream—wherever it runs in the direction in
which they wish to go; but we had grown impatient
on not finding any one flowing into the Pecos
from the east; and, having filled our gourd can-


16
THE WHITE PEAK.
teens, and given our animals as much water as they
could drink, we turned their heads towards the open
plain.
After riding for several hours, we found ourselves
in the midst of a wide desert, with neither hill, moun-
tain, nor any other landmark in view. Scarcely a
trace of vegetation appeared around us. Here and
there were patches of stunted sage-bushes and clumps
of thorny cactus; but not a blade of grass to gladden
the eyes of our animals. Not a drop of water was
met with, nor any indication that rain had ever fallen
upon that parched plain. The soil was as dry as
powder, and the dust, kicked up by the hoofs of our
mules and horses, hung around us in a cloud as we
marched. In addition to this, the heat was excess-
ive; and this, with the dust and fatigue of travel,
brought on an unquenchable thirst, that soon caused
us to drink up the contents of our water-gourds.
Long before night they were all empty, and every
one of our party was crying out from thirst. Our
animals suffered worse; for we, at least, had food,
while they, poor brutes, were without a bite to sus-
tain them.
We could not well turn back. We thought we
should surely come to water, sooner than we could


THE WHITE PEAK.
17
get back to the river; and with this hope we struggled
on. Late in the afternoon, our eyes were greeted by
a glad sight, that caused us to start up in our saddles
with a feeling of joy. You may think that it was
water—but it was not. It was a white object that
appeared against the sky at a great distance. It was
of a triangular shape, and seemed to be suspended
in the air like the upper half of a huge kite. All
of us knew at a glance what it was. We knew that
it was the white cap of a snowy mountain.
You will wonder why this sight should have given
us such feelings of pleasure, as, in your opinion,
there is nothing very hospitable in the appearance
of a snow-capped mountain. That is because you do
not understand the peculiarities of the Desert. I
shall explain. We knew, from the appearance of the
mountain, that it was one of those where the snow
lies for ever, and which throughout Mexico are
termed "Nevada," or snowy. We knew, moreover,
that wherever these are met with, streams of water
will be found running down their sides, almost at all
seasons, but certainly in hot or summer weather, in
consequence of the melting of the snow. It was
this knowledge, then, that cheered us; and although
the mountain seemed at a great distance, we pushed
c


18
THE WHITE PEAK.
forward with renewed energy and hope. Our ani-
mals, too, as if they also understood the matter,
neighed and brayed loudly, and stepped out with a
more springy and elastic tread.
The white triangle grew bigger as we advanced.
At sunset we could distinguish the brown seams in
the lower part of the mountain; and the yellow rays
dancing upon the snowy crystals of the cone caused
it to glitter like a coronet of gold. The sight cheered
us on.
The sun set, and the moon took his place in the
heavens. Under her pale light we travelled on—
the peak of the mountain still glistening coldly before
us. We travelled all night—and why not? There
was nothing to halt for. We could not have halted,
except to die.
The morning broke upon us as we dragged wearily
along. We could not have ridden less than an hun-
dred miles since we left the Pecos river; and yet, to
our dismay, the mountain was still at a good distance
before us. As the day brightened, we could trace
the configuration of its base; and we observed that
upon its southern face a deep ravine indented the
mountain nearly to its top. On its western side—
the one nearest us—there was no such feature; and


THE WHITE PEAK.
19
we conjectured that the most likely place for water
would be in the ravine on the south, where a stream
might be formed by the aggregation of the melted
snow-water.
We directed our course toward the point, where
the ravine appeared to have its debouchment on
the plain. We had calculated rightly; as we ap-
proached it, winding round the foot of the mountain,
we saw a line of a bright green colour, running out
into the brown desert. It looked like a low hedge,
with here and there tall trees growing up above the
rest. We knew well what it was: it was a grove
of willows, with trees of cotton-wood interspersed.
We knew them to be the sure signs of water, and
we hailed their appearance with delight. The men
huzza'd hoarsely—the horses neighed—the mules
hinnied—and, in a few moments more, men, mules,
and horses, were kneeling by a crystal runlet, and
drinking deeply of its waters.


90
THE VALLEY OASIS.
CHAPTER III.
THE VALLEY OASIS.
After so long and terrible a journey, of course, we
all stood in need of rest and refreshment. We made
up our minds to stay by the stream all night, and
perhaps for a day or two. The fringe of willows
extended on both sides of it for a distance of fifty
yards into the plain; and among these, growing
under their shade, there were patches of grass—that
species known in Mexico as the gramma grass. It
is a rich, nutritious herbage; and horses and cattle—
as well as the buffaloes and other wild animals—are
very fond of it. Our mules and horses gave proof
of this; for, as soon as they had satisfied themselves
with the water, they attacked it with open mouths,
and eyes sparkling with delight. We relieved them
of their packs and saddles; and then, having picketed
them, left them to eat to their hearts' content.


THE VALLEY OASIS.
SI
We now set about looking after something for
our own suppers. We had not yet suffered much
from hunger, as we had occasionally chewed pieces
of our dried meat while crossing the plain. But we
had eaten it quite raw; and tasajo—for that is its
name—is no great eating, either raw or roasted.
We had been living upon it for more than a week,
and we longed for something fresh. During all the
route from El Paso we had fallen in with no game,
except some half-dozen lean antelopes, only one of
which we had succeeded in shooting.
While we were picketing our animals, and getting
ready to cook our suppers of coffee and tasajo, one of
the hunters — a tireless fellow named Lincoln—had
stolen off up the ravine. Presently we heard the
sharp crack of his rifle ringing through the defile;
and, looking up, we saw a flock of "bighorns "—
so the wild sheep of the Rocky Mountains are called
—leaping from rock to rock, and almost flying like
birds up the face of the cliffs. It was not long be-
fore Lincoln made his appearance at the mouth of
the defile, carrying a large body upon his shoulders—
which we knew, by the huge crescent-shaped horns,.
had been a member of the flock we had seen escaping.
It proved to be as fat as a buck; and the knives of


THE VALLEY OASIS.
the skilful hunters were not long in skinning and
dissecting it. Meanwhile, a couple of axes had been
grappled by stout hands; a cotton-wood came crashing
down after a few sharp blows; and, having been cut
into " logs," was soon crackling under the red blaze.
Over this, the ribs and steaks of the bighorn soon
sputtered, and the coffee-kettle steamed, simmered,
and bubbled, with its brown and aromatic contents.
Our supper over, one and all of us rolled ourselves
in our blankets, and were soon forgetful of the perils
through which we had passed.
Next morning we arose refreshed, and after break-
fast a consultation was held as to what course we
should now take. We would have followed the
stream, but it appeared to run in a southerly direc-
tion, and that would not do for us. We wanted to go
eastward. While we were deliberating upon this, an
exclamation from the hunter Lincoln drew our atten-
tion. He was standing in the open ground, at some
distance out from the willows, and pointing south-
ward. We all looked in that direction, and, to our
great surprise, beheld a pillar of blue smoke curling
up into the sky, and seeming to rise out of the plain!
"It must be Indians!" cried one.
"I noticed an odd-looking hole in the prairie


THE VALLEY OASIS.
28
down there," said Lincoln; "I noticed it last night,
when I was up after the bighorn. The smoke we
see conies out of it; but there must be a fire where
there's smoke, they say; and there's somebody about
that fire, be they Injuns or whites."
"Indians, of course," rejoined several; "who else
would be found within hundreds of miles of such a
place as this? Indians, they must be."
A brief consultation was held among us, as to what
was best to be done. Our fire was at once "choked
out," and our mules and horses brought into the
cover of the willow thicket. Some proposed that a
small party of us should go down the stream and
reconnoitre; while others advised that we should
climb the mountain, from which we might get a
view of the strange place whence the smoke seemed
to proceed. This was plainly the best course to
adopt—as, in case it should fail to satisfy us, we
could still follow the other plan. Half-a-dozen of
us, therefore, leaving the others to guard the camp,
immediately set out to ascend the mountain.
We climbed up the ravine, occasionally stopping
to look out over the plain. We climbed until we
had reached a considerable elevation. At length we
caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a deep


24: THE VALLEY OASIS.
barranca—into which ran the stream—but we could
distinguish nothing within it at so great a distance.
We could see the plain stretching away beyond,
naked and sterile. On one side only, and that
towards the east, there was a belt of verdure, with
here and there a solitary tree, or at most two or
three growing together, stunted-like and shrubby.
Running in the centre of this belt, we could distin-
guish a line or crack in the plain. This was, no
doubt, a channel by which the stream escaped from
the barranca. As nothing farther could be gained
by remaining upon the mountain, we descended, and
joined our companions at the camp.
It was now agreed that a select party should follow
the stream, until we had approached the edge of this
strange valley, and reconnoitred it with caution.
Six of us again started, leaving our horses as before.
We stole silently along, keeping among the willows,
and as near as possible to the banks of the rivulet.
In this way we travelled about a mile and a half.
We saw then that we were near to the end of the
barranca. We could hear a noise like the sound of
a waterfall. We guessed that it must be a cataract
formed by the stream, where it leaped into the
strange ravine that already began to expand before


THE VALLEY OASIS.
25
our faces. We were right in our conjectures, for
the next moment we crept out upon the edge of a
fearful cliff, where the water of the rivulet swept over,
and fell through a height of several hundred feet.
It was a heautiful sight to look upon, as the
long jet, curving like the tail of a horse, plunged
into the foaming pool below; and then rising
with its millions of globules of snowy spray, glit-
tered under the sunbeam with all the colours, of
the rainbow. It was, indeed, a beautiful sight; but
our eyes did not dwell long upon it, for other objects
were before them that filled us with wonder. Away
below—far below where we were—lay a lovely valley,
smiling in all the luxuriance of bright vegetation.
It was of nearly an oval shape, bounded upon all
sides by a frowning precipice, that rose around it
like a wall. Its length could not have been less
than ten miles, and its greatest breadth about half
of its length. We were at its upper end, and of
course viewed it lengthwise. Along the face of the
precipice there were trees hanging out horizontally,
and some of them even growing with their tops
downward. These trees were cedars and pines; and
we could perceive also the knotted limbs of huge
cacti protruding from the crevices of the rocks.


THE VALLEY OASIS.
We could see the wild mezcal, or maguey plant,
growing against the cliff—its scarlet leaves con-
trasting finely with the dark foliage of the cedars
and cacti. Some of these plants stood out on the
very brow of the overhanging precipice, and their
long curving blades gave a singular character to the
landscape. Along the face of the dark cliffs all was
rough, and gloomy, and picturesque. How different
was the scene below! Here everything looked soft,
and smiling, and beautiful. There were broad
stretches of woodland, where the thick foliage of the
trees met and clustered together, so that it looked
like the surface of the earth itself; but we knew it
was only the green leaves, for here and there were
spots of brighter green, that we saw were glades
covered with grassy turf. The leaves of the trees
were of different colours, for it was now late in
the autumn. Some were yellow, and some of a deep
claret colour. Some were bright red, and some of a
beautiful maroon ; and there were green, and brighter
green, and others of a silvery, whitish hue. All
these colours were mingled together, and blended
into each other, like the flowers upon a rich carpet.
Near the centre of the valley was a large shining
object, which we knew to be water. It was evidently


THE VALLEY OASIS.
27
a lake of crystal purity, and smooth as a mirror.
The sun was now up to meridian height, and his
yellow beams falling upon its surface caused it to
gleam like a sheet of gold. We could not trace the
outlines of the water—for the trees partially hid it
from our view—but we saw that the smoke that had
at first attracted us rose up somewhere from the
western shore of the lake.
We returned to the camp, where we had left our
companions. It was now agreed that we should all
ride down the side of the barranca together, until
we could find a place to descend into it. It was
evident some such place existed, else, how could they
have got in who had kindled the fire there?
We left the Mexicans in camp with our mules,
and all the rest of us having mounted our horses,
rode off together. We went by the eastern side,
keeping well back upon the plain, so that we might
not be seen until we discovered what sort of people
were in the valley. When we had got opposite to
where the smoke was still curling up, we stopped;
and two of us, dismounting, crawled forward to the
very edge of the precipice. We took care to keep
some bushes, that grew along the brink, between
ourselves and the lake. At length we were able to


28
THE VALLEY OASIS.
get a good view of everything below; and a very
strange sight that was,—at least it was very strange
in such a place, where it was so little expected.
There was a large lake, as I have already stated;
and on its opposite side, not over a hundred yards
from its edge, was a fine-looking log-house, with other
smaller ones standing in the rear. There were
rail-fences all around them, and a cleared space
divided into fields, some of which appeared to be
under cultivation, while others were green and filled
with flocks of animals. The whole picture was
exactly like a snug farm-house, with its stables and
other outhouses, with its garden and fields, and
horses and cattle! The distance was too great for us
to distinguish what sort of cattle they were, but there
appeared to be many kinds, both red, and black, and
speckled. We could see several figures of men and
boys—four of them in all—moving about the en-
closures, and there was a woman near the door of the
house. It was impossible in the distance to tell whe-
ther they were white people, but we never imagined for
a moment they could be Indians. No Indian could
have built such a house as that. It seemed to us as
though we were dreaming, to find such a picture in
so unexpected a place; and it was a beautiful picture


THE VAIXEY OASIS.
to our eyes, coming fresh as we were from looking
upon the barren desert. The lake was smooth as a
mirror; the sun was shining upon it, and we could
see upon its farther shore several large animals
standing up to their knees in the water.
There were many other striking objects which met
our eyes, but we had no time to dwell upon them,
and we crawled back again to our companions.
It was at once agreed that we should go still far-
ther down, and endeavour to find a road leading into
this most singular oasis. We thought we could dis-
tinguish a sort of depression in the plain near the
lower end of the valley, and for this point we directed
our course. After riding a few miles farther we
reached the place where the stream issued out in
an easterly direction. There sure enough, was the
very road we were in search of, winding down along
the bank of the stream, and as if carved out from
the face of the precipice. It was not much wider
than the track of a wagon, but was of very easy
descent. We did not hesitate a moment, but com-
menced riding downward.


30
THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT.
CHAPTER IV.
THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT.
We were soon in the bottom of the valley, where we
followed a plain track that led along the banks of the
rivulet. We knew that that would direct us up to
the lake, where we should get a view of the house.
We were astonished at the great variety of trees
which we saw in the woods; but there appeared to
be almost as great a variety of beautiful birds, that *
fluttered among the leaves as we rode forward.
We came at length within sight of the opening in
which the house and lake were situated. It was pru-
dent to make another reconnoissance before we ad-
vanced farther; and two of us, again dismounting,
stole cautiously forward through a thicket of leafy
shrubs. The house and all its grounds lay before us.
It was a log-house—such as are met with in the
western states of America—and well constructed.


THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT.
31
There was a garden at one end, and fields on all
sides. These fields were, as we had supposed, some
of them under cultivation. We noticed one of them
■with a crop of Indian corn, and another of wheat.
But what most astonished us was the kind of ani-
mals we saw in the enclosures. One would have
thought at first sight that they were the animals
usually seen around an English or American
farm-house,—that is to say, horses, cattle, sheep,
goats, hogs, and poultry. You may fancy, then,
our surprise, when, on looking narrowly at them, we
could not make out a single animal exactly resem-
bling any one of the above, with the exception of
horses; and even these were unlike the common
kind, for they were smaller, and spotted all over like
hounds! We knew that they were mustangs—the
wild horses of the Desert.
We glanced at the animals we had taken for black
cattle. What were they but buffaloes! Buffaloes
penned up in fields, and not heeding the human
beings that passed shouting among them! More
than all, we now saw that two animals yoked to the
plough were of the same species,— a pair of huge
buffalo bulls; and they were working with all the
quietness and regularity of oxen!


32
THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT.
Another kind of large animals drew our attention,
still taller than the buffaloes. We saw several of
them standing quietly in the water of the lake, in
which their huge bodies and branching horns were
shadowed as in a mirror. These we knew to he elk—
the great American elk. We saw several kinds of
deer, and antelopes with their short pronged horns,
and animals that resembled these last in size—but
with immense curving horns like those of the ram—
and other animals like goats or sheep. We saw
some without tails, having the appearance of pigs,
and others resembling foxes and dogs. We could
see fowls of different kinds moving about the doors,
and among others we distinguished the tall, upright
form of the wild turkey. The whole picture looked
like the collection of some zoological garden or
menagerie.
Two men were seen,— one a tall, white man, with
a somewhat florid complexion. The other was a
short and very thick-set negro. The latter was by
the plough. There were two younger men, or lads
nearly grown. A woman sat by the door engaged in
some occupation, and near her were two little girls,
no doubt her daughters.
But the sight which was strangest of all, both to


THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT. 33
my companion and myself, was what appeared in
front of the house, and around the little porch
where the woman was sitting. It was a fearful sight
to look upon. First there were two large black
bears, perfectly loose, and playing with each other!
then there were several smaller animals, that we had
at first taken for dogs, but that we now recognised,
by their bushy tails, sharp snouts, and short erect
ears, to have at least as much of the wolf as dog in
them. They were of that kind often met with among
the Indians, and might more properly be called dog-
wolves than wolf-dogs. There were at least half-a-
dozen of them sauntering about. But the most
fearful-looking of all were two animals of a tawny red
colour, that lay in crouching attitudes within the
porch, almost at the feet of the woman. Their round,
cat-like heads and ears, their short black muzzles,
their white throats, and pale reddish breasts, told us
what they were at a glance.
"Panthers !" ejaculated my companion, drawing a
long breath, and looking at me with a puzzled air.
Yes; they were panthers—so called by the hunters,
but more properly cougars—the felis concolor of the
naturalists—the Hon of America.
In the midst of all these fierce creatures, the two
D


34
THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT.
young girls were moving about, apparently uncon-
cerned at their presence, while the animals ap-
peared equally unconcerned about them! The whole
scene reminded us of the fanciful pictures, we had
seen, of that time promised in the Sacred Book, when
"all the earth shall be at peace, and the lion shall
lie down with the lamb."
We did not stop to see more. We were satisfied,
and went back for our companions. In five minutes
after, the whole of us entered the clearing, and rode
up to the house. Our sudden appearance produced
consternation on all sides. The men shouted to each
other—the horses neighed—the dogs howled and
barked hoarsely—and the fowls mingled their voices
in the clamour. We were taken, no doubt, for a
party of Indians; but we were not long in making it
understood who and what we were. As soon as
our explanations were given, the white man invited
us, in the politest manner, to alight, and partake
of his hospitality. At the same time he gave orders
for our dinners to be prepared; and, desiring us to lead
our horses into one of the enclosures, he commenced
throwing corn into a large wooden trough. In this
he was assisted by the negro, who was his servant,
and the two young lads, who appeared to be his sons.


THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT. 35
As yet we had not ceased to wonder. Every-
thing around us was strange and inexplicable. The
animals, which none of us had ever seen, except
in their wild state, were as tame and gentle as
farm cattle; and we noticed some new species at
every turn. There were strange plants too, growing
in the fields and garden, and vines trained upon
espaliers, and corn-cribs filled with yellow corn, and
dove-cotes, and martin-boxes, with swallows twitter-
ing around them. All formed a curious but pleasing
picture.
We had sauntered about for an hour, when we
were summoned to dinner.
"Follow me, gentlemen," said our host, as he
led the way to the house. We entered, and seated
ourselves around a good-sized table, upon which
smoked several savoury and inviting dishes. Some
of these we recognised as old acquaintances, while
others were new to us. We found venison-steaks,
with buffalo tongues and hump-ribs,—the daintiest
portions of that animal. There were fresh-cooked
fowls, and eggs of the wild turkey boiled and dressed
in omelettes. There were bread and butter, and
milk and rich cheese, all set out to tempt our
appetites, that, to say the truth, just at that time
did not require much coaxing to do justice to the


36
THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT.
viands before us. We were all quite hungry, for we
had eaten nothing since morning. A large kettle
simmered by the fire. What could it contain?
thought we; surely, not tea or coffee. In a short
time we were satisfied on this head. Bowls were
placed before us; and into these the hot liquid was
poured, which we found to be a very palatable as well
as wholesome beverage — the tea of the sassafras
root. It was sweetened by maple sugar; and each
helped himself to cream to his own liking. We had
all tasted such tea before, and many of our party
liked it as well as the tea of China.
While we continued to eat, we could not help no-
ticing the strangeness of everything around us. All
the articles of furniture were of unique and rude
description; and it was plain that most of them had
been manufactured upon the spot. The vessels were
of several sorts and of different materials. There were
cups and dishes, and bowls cut out of shells of the
gourd or calabash; and there were spoons and ladles
of the same material. There were wooden platters
and trays carved and scooped out of the solid tree.
And more numerous were the vessels of red pottery,
of different shapes and for different uses. Of these
there were large pots for cooking, and jars for
holding water, and jugs of various dimensions.


THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT.
37
The chairs, too, were all of rude construction; but
admirably adapted to their purpose. Most of them
were covered with raw hide seats, which stretched up
the back in a slanting line, and thus rendered them
firm and commodious. A few lighter ones—evi-
dently intended as the furniture of the inner rooms—
(there were but two in the house), had bottoms woven
out of the leaves of the palmetto.
There was very little attempt at ornament upon
the walls—if we except some curiosities that were
placed there, all of which were evidently the produc-
tions of the valley itself. There were stuffed birds of
rare and bright plumage, and huge horns of animals,
with two or three shells of the land tortoise carefully
polished. There were no mirrors nor pictures, and
not a book to be seen, except one; that was a
medium^ized volume, placed on a small table by
itself, and evidently preserved with great care as
it had been neatly and elaborately bound in the skin
of a young antelope. I had the curiosity to open
this book, shortly after entering. I read upon the
title-page the words "Holy Bible." This circum-
stance increased the interest I already felt in our
host and his family; and I sat down with feel-
ings of confidence, for I knew that even in this


38
THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT.
remote place we were enjoying the hospitality of a
Christian.
During the meal our host with his family were
present. We had seen them all on our arrival,
for they had run forward to greet and welcome us;
but we became puzzled as we listened to the conver-
sation of the children. We heard with surprise that
we were the first white men they had seen for a period
of nearly ten years! They were all beautiful children
—robust, and full of life and animation. There were
two boys—Frank and Harry,—so their mother called
them—and two girls. Of the girls one was of a very
dark complexion—in fact, quite a brunette, and with
a Spanish expression of face. The other was as fair
as her sister was dark. The fair one was a beautiful
little creature with flowing yellow hair and deep blue
eyes, with long, dark lashes. Her name was Mary.
That of the sister was Luisa. They were both very
pretty, but very unlike each other; and, what was odd
to me, they appeared to be about the same age and
size. The boys were also of like size, though both
much older than their sisters. They appeared to be
seventeen or more, but I could not have guessed
which was the elder. Harry, with his fair curling
hair, and red manly face, bore a strong resemblance to


THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT. 39
his father; while the other was darker, and altogether
more like the mother. She herself did not appear to
be much over thirty-five years of age, and was still a
beautiful and evidently a light-hearted woman.
Our host was a man of about forty—a tall, well-
formed man, with light ruddy complexion, and hair
that had been fair and curling, but was now some-
what grey. He ha■d neither beard nor whiskers; but,
on the contrary, his chin bore evidence that he had
freshly shaved himself that very day; and his whole
appearance was that of a man who regularly attended
to the duties of the toilet. There was also about him
a gentlemanlike bearing; and his address and conver-
sation soon convinced all of us that we were in the
company of an educated man.
The dress of the whole family was peculiar. The
man himself wore a hunting-shirt and leggings of
tanned deer-skin, and not unlike that of our own
hunters. The boys were similarly attired, but
we could see that they had a sort of homespun
linen garment underneath. The female part of the
family were dressed in clothes, part of which were of
the same homespun, and part of a fine skin, that of
the fawn, dressed to the softness of a glove. Several
hats were lying about; and we noticed that they were
curiously fabricated from the leaves of the palmetto.


40
THE 8TRANGE SETTLEMENT.
While we were eating, the negro appeared at the
door, and, looking in, eyed us with glances of extreme
curiosity. He was a short, stout man, black as jet,
and apparently about forty years old. His head was
covered with a thick crop of small curls, that appeared
to form an even surface, making the outline of the
skull as round as a ball. His teeth were very large
and white, and anything but fierce—as he showed
them only when he smiled, and that he did almost
continually. There was something .very pleasing in
the expression of his rich black eyes, which were
never at rest, but kept always rolling on both sides
of his flat and expanded nose.
"Cudjo! drive out these animals," said the
woman—or rather lady, we should call her—for she
was evidently entitled to be so styled. Her com-
mand, or more properly request—for she had made
it in that tone—was obeyed with alacrity. Cudjo
leaped into the floor, and, after a short while, suc-
ceeded in turning out the wolf-dogs, and panthers,
and other strange animals, that up to this time had
been snarling at each other, among our feet, to the
no small terror of several of our party.
All these things were so strange, that we watched
them with interest and curiosity. At length our
meal was ended; and as we were most anxious to


THE STRANGE SETTLEMENT. 41
have everything explained to us, we signified this
desire to our host.
"Wait until night," said he. "Around the cheer-
ful log-fire I will tell you my story. Meanwhile you
all need other refreshment than eating. Come to
the lake then, and take a bath. The sun is high
and warm. A bath will refresh you after your dusty
travel."
So saying, he stepped out of the cottage, and pro-
ceeded towards the lake, followed by all of our party.
A few minutes after, we were refreshing ourselves in
the crystal water.
During the remainder of the day, we occupied
ourselves at different employments. Some went
hack to the mountain foot for the mules and Mexi-
cans; while the rest of us strolled about the house
and grounds—every now and then stumbling upon
some new object of wonder.
We were impatient for the coming of night, for
we were wound up to a pitch of extreme curiosity, and
longed for an explanation of what we saw around us.
Night came at length; and after an excellent
supper, we all sat around the cheerful fire, to listen
to the strange history of Robert Rolfe—for that was
the name of our host.


bolfe's early history.
CHAPTER V.
rolfe's early history.
"Brothers," began he, "I am of your own race,
although I am not an American. I am an English-
man. I was born in the south of that country some-
thing more than forty years ago. My father was a
yeoman—an independent, or, as he was sometimes
styled, a gentleman-farmer. Unfortunately, he was
a man of too much ambition for his class. He was
determined that I, his only son, should be a gentle-
man in the ordinary sense of the word; that is, that
I should be educated in all those expensive habits
and accomplishments, which are sure to lead men of
moderate fortune along the direct road to ruin. This
was not wise of my father; but it would not be
graceful in me to reflect upon a fault, that consisted
in his too great fondness for myself. I believe it
was the only fault which my good, kind father, was


eolfe's early history.
43
ever charged with. Beyond this somewhat foolish
ambition, his character was without reproach among
men.
"I was sent to those schools where I should meet
the scions of the aristocracy. I was taught to dance,
to ride, and to play. I was allowed spending money
at will, and could call for champagne, and drink it,
with any of my companions. At the end of my col-
lege life, I was sent upon my travels. I made the
tour of the Rhine, of France, and Italy; and after
some years spent in this way, I returned to Eng-
land— sent for, to be present at the death of my
father.
"I was now sole heir to his property, which was
by no means inconsiderable for a man of his class. I
soon reduced it in bulk. I must needs live in Lon-
don, where I could enjoy the company of many of
my old school and college companions. I was wel-
come amongst them while my purse held out—for
many of them were needy men — lawyers without
briefs, and officers with nothing to live upon but
their pay. Of course, such men are fond of play.
They have nothing to lose, and all to win; and it was
but a short year or two, until they had won from
me the best part of my patrimonial property. I


44
bolfe's early history.
was on the eve of becoming a bankrupt. But one
thing saved me—she saved me!"
Here our host pointed to his wife, who sat sur-
rounded by her family at one side of the great fire-
place. The lady held down her eyes and smiled;
while the children, who had been listening attentively,
all turned towards her with looks of interest.
"Yes," continued he, " Mary saved me. We had
been playmates together in earlier life; and at this
time we again met. We felt an affection for each
other. It ended in our getting married.
"Fortunately, my dissipated life had not destroyed,
as it often does with men, all my virtuous principles.
Many of these, that had been early instilled into my
mind by the teachings of a good mother, still re-
mained fixed and true.
"As soon as we were married, I resolved to change
altogether my mode of life. But this is not so
easily done as men imagine. Once you are sur-
rounded by associates, such as mine were — once
you are plunged into debts and obligations—it re-
quires both courage and virtuous determination to
meet and discharge them. It requires a terrible
effort to free one's self from evil companions, whose
interest it is, that you should still remain as profli-


bolfe's early history.
45
gate as themselves. But I was resolved; and, thanks
to the counsels of my Mary, I succeeded in carrying
out my resolve.
"To pay my debts, I was compelled to sell the
property left me by my father. This done, and every
bill discharged, I found myself worth only five hun-
dred pounds.
"My little wife, there, had brought me the sum
of twenty-five hundred; and this still left us
three thousand pounds with which to begin the
■world. Three thousand pounds is not much to live
upon in England—that is, among the class of people
with whom I had hitherto associated; and after
spending several years in trying to increase it, I
found that it was every day growing less. I found,
after three years engaged in farming, that my three
thousand pounds was only worth two. I was told
that this sum would go much farther in America—
that it would purchase me a fine home—and, with
thoughts of providing well for my family, I embarked
with my wife and children for New York.
"There I found the very man whom I wanted—
that was, some one to advise me how to begin life in
the New World. My predilections were in favour of
agriculture; and these were encouraged by the


46
eolfe's early history.
advice of him whom I had met. He told me that it
would be unwise for me to lay out my money upon
new or uncleared land; as, with my want of expe-
rience as a farmer, I would have to pay more for
clearing it of its timber than the land would be
worth. 'It would be better for you,' continued my
new acquaintance, 'to buy a tract already cleared
and fenced, with a good house upon it, where you
will be at home at once.'
"I admitted the truth of all this reasoning; but
would my money be sufficient for this ?' Oh, yes,'
answered he; and then he told me that he 'knew
of a farm in the State of Virginia,'—a plantation,
as he called it, that would suit me exactly. It
could be purchased for five hundred pounds. With
the remainder of my money I should be able to stock
it handsomely.
"After some farther conversation, I found that the
plantation belonged to himself. So much the better,
thought I; and in the end I bought it from him, and
set out immediately after for my new home.


THE VTRG1NTA PLANTATION.
47
CHAPTEK VI.
THE VIRGINIA PLANTATION.
"I found the farm everything he had described it—a
large plantation with a good wooden house, and well-
enclosed fields. I immediately set about ' stocking'
it with my remaining cash. What was my surprise
to find that I must spend the greater part of this in
buying men! Yes—there was no alternative. There
were no labourers to be had in the place—except
such as were slaves—and these I must either buy for
myself, or hire from their masters, which, in point of
morality, amounted to the same thing.
"Thinking that I might treat them with at least as
much humanity, as they appeared to receive from
others, I chose the former course; and purchasing a
number of blacks, both men and women, I began life
as a planter. After such a bargain as that, I did not


48
THE VIRGINIA PLANTATION.
deserve to prosper; and I did not prosper, as you
shall see.
"My first crop failed ; in fact, it scarce returned me
the seed. The second was still worse; and to my
mortification I now ascertained the cause of the
failure. I had come into possession of a 'worn-out'
farm. The land looked well, and on sight you
would have called it a fertile tract. When I first
saw it myself, I was delighted with my purchase—
which seemed indeed a great bargain for the small
sum of money I had paid. But appearances are
often deceptive; and never was there a greater decep-
tion than my beautiful plantation in Virginia. It
was utterly worthless. It had been cropped for
many years with maize, and cotton, and tobacco.
These had been regularly carried off the land, and
not a stalk or blade suffered to return to the soil.
As a natural fact, known to almost every one, the
vegetable or organic matter will thus in time become
exhausted, and nothing will remain but inorganic or
purely mineral substances, which of themselves cannot
nourish vegetation, and of course can give no crop.
This is the reason why manure is spread upon land
—the manure consisting of substances that are for
the most part organic, and contain the principles of


THE VIRGINIA PLANTATION.
life and vegetation. Of course, gentlemen, these
things are known to you; but you will pardon my
digression, as my children are listening to me, and I
never lose an opportunity of instructing them in facts
that may hereafter he useful to them.
"Well, as I have said, I had no crops, or rather
very had ones, for the first and second years. On
the third it was, if possible, still worse; and on the
fourth and fifth no better than ever. I need hardly
add that by this time I was ruined, or very nearly so
The expense of feeding and clothing my poor negroes
had brought me in debt to a considerable amount. I
could not have lived longer on my worthless planta-
tion, even had I desired it. I was compelled, in
order to pay my debts, to sell out everything—farm,
cattle, and negroes. No, I did not sell all. There
was one honest fellow to whom both Mary and I had
become attached. I was resolved not to sell him
into slavery. He had served us faithfully. It was he
who first told me how I had been tricked; and, sym-
pathising in my misfortune, he endeavoured—both
by industry on his own part, and by encouraging his
fellow-labourers—to make the ungrateful soil yield
me a return. His efforts had been vain, but I deter-
mined to repay him for his rude but honest friendship.
E


50
THE VIRGINIA PLANTATION.
I gave him his liberty. He would not accept it. He
would not part from us. He is there!"
As the narrator said this, he pointed to Cudjo,
who stood hanging by the door-post; and, delighted
at these compliments which were being paid him,
was showing his white teeth in a broad and affec-
tionate smile.
Rolfe continued:—
"When the sale was completed, and the account
settled, I found that I had just five hundred pounds
left. I had now some experience in farming; and I
resolved to move out to the West—into the great
valley of the Mississippi. I knew that there my five
hundred pounds would still set me up again in a
farm as big as I wanted, where the timber was still
growing upon it.
"Just at this time my eye fell upon some flaming
advertisements in the newspapers, about a new city
which was then being built at the junction of the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers. It was called 'Cairo,' and
as it was situated on the fork between two of the
largest and most navigable rivers in the world, it
could not fail in a few years to become one of the
largest cities in the world. So said the advertise-
ment. There were maps of the new city everywhere,


THE VIRGINIA PLANTATION.
51
and on these were represented theatres, and banks,
and court-houses, and churches of different religious
denominations. There were lots offered for sale, and,
along with these, small tracts of land adjoining the
town—so that the inhabitants might combine the
occupations of merchant and agriculturist. These
lots were offered very cheap, thought I; and I did
not rest, night nor day, until I had purchased one of
them, and also a small farm in the adjacent country.
"Almost as soon as I had made the purchase, I
set out to take possession. Of course, I took with
me my wife and children. I had now three—the two
eldest being twins and about nine years old. I did
not intend to return to Virginia any more. Our
faithful Cudjo accompanied us to our far Western
home.
"It was a severe journey, but not so severe as the
trial that awaited us on our arrival at 'Cairo.' As
soon as I came within sight of the place, I saw, to
use an expressive phrase, that I had been 'sold'
again. There was but one house, and that stood
upon the only ground that was not a swamp. Nearly
the whole site of the proposed city was under water,
and the part not wholly inundated consisted of a
dark morass, covered with trees and tall reeds!


52
THE VIRGINIA PLANTATION.
There were no theatres, no churches, no court-house,
no banks, nor any likelihood there ever would be
any, except such as might be built to keep back the
water from the only house in the place—a sort of
rough hotel, filled with swearing boatmen.
"I had landed, of course; and, after putting up at
the hotel, proceeded iu search of my ' property.' I
found my town-lot in a marsh, which took me over
the ankles in mud. As for my farm, I was com-
pelled to get a boat to visit it; and after sailing all
over it without being able to touch bottom, I returned
to the hotel, heartless and disgusted.
"By the next steamboat that came along, I em-
barked for St. Louis—where I sold both lot and farm
for a mere trifle.
"I need not say that I was mortified at all this.
I was almost heart-broken when I reflected on my
repeated failures, and thought of my young wife and
children. I could have bitterly cursed both America
and the Americans, had that been of any use; and
yet such a thing would have been as unjust as immo-
ral. It is true I had been twice outrageously swin-
dled; but the same thing had happened to me in my
own country, and I had suffered in the same way by
those who professed to be my friends. There are


THE VIRGINIA PLANTATION.
53
bad men in every country—men willing to take advan-
tage of generosity and inexperience. It does not
follow that all are so; and we hope far less than
the half—for it must be remembered that the bad
points of one country are more certain to be heard of
in another than its good ones. When I look to the
schemes and speculations which have been got up in
England, and which have enriched a few accomplished
rogues, by the ruin of thousands of honest men, I
cannot, as an Englishman, accuse our American cou-
sins of being greater swindlers than ourselves. It is
true I have been deceived by them, but it was from
the want of proper judgment in myself, arising from
a foolish and ill-directed education. I should have
been equally ill-treated in the purchase of a horse at
Tattersall's, or a pound of tea in Piccadilly, had I
been equally unacquainted with the value of the arti-
cles. We both, as nations, have erred. Neither of
us can, with grace, cast a stone at the other; and
as for myself, why, look there!" said Rolfe, smil-
ing and pointing to his family, "two of my children
only are Englishmen; the others are little Yankees.
Almost every Englishman can say something similar.
Why, then, should we sow jealousy between them?"


THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
CHAPTER VII.
THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
Our host continued:—
"Well, my friends, I was in St. Louis. I had now
left out of my three thousand pounds not quite an
hundred; and this would soon melt away should I
remain idle. What was I to do?
"There happened to be a young Scotchman at the
hotel where I had put up. He was, like myself, a
stranger in St. Louis; and being from the 'old
country,' we soon became acquainted, and, very
naturally under the circumstances, shared each
other's confidence. I told him of my blunders in
Virginia and Cairo, and I believe that he really felt
sympathy for me. In return, he detailed to me part
of his past history, and also his plans for the future.
He had been for several years employed in a copper
mine, away near the centre of the Great American


THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
66
Desert, in the mountains called Los Mimbres, that
lie west of the Del Norte river.
"They are a wonderful people these same Scotch.
They are but a small nation, yet their influence is
felt everywhere upon the globe. Go where you will,
you will find them in positions of trust and im-
portance—always prospering, yet, in the midst of
prosperity, still remembering, with strong feelings of
attachment, the land of their birth. They manage
the marts of London—the commerce of India—the
fur trade of America—and the mines of Mexico.
Over all the American wilderness you will meet
them, side by side with the backwoods-pioneer him-
self, and even pushing him from his own ground.
From the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Sea, they have
impressed with their Gaelic names rock, river, and
mountain; and many an Indian tribe owns a Scotch-
man for its chief. I say, again, they are a wonderful
people.
"Well; my St. Louis Scotchman had come from
his mine upon a visit of business to the United States,
and was now on his return by St. Louis and Santa
Fe. His wife was along with him—a fine-looking,
young Mexican woman, with only one child. He was
waiting for a small caravan of Spanish people, who


56
THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
were about to start for New Mexico. With these he
intended to travel, so as to be in safety from the
Indians along the route.
"As soon as he understood my situation, he
advised me to accompany him — offering me a lucra-
tive situation in the mine, of which he was the sole
manager.
"Disgusted as I then was with the treatment I had
received in the United States, I embraced his pro-
posal with alacrity; and, under his superintendence,
I set about making preparations for the long journey
that lay before us. The money, I had left, enabled
me to equip myself in a tolerable manner. I bought
a wagon and two pair of stout oxen. This was to
carry my wife and children, with such furniture and
provisions as would be necessary on the journey. I
had no need to hire a teamster, as our faithful Cudjo
was to accompany us, and I knew there was no better
hand to manage a team of oxen than Cudjo. For
myself I purchased a horse, a rifle, with all the para-
phernalia that are required by those who cross the
great prairies. My boys, Harry and Frank, had also
a small rifle each, which we had brought with us
from Virginia: and Harry was very proud of the
manner in which he could handle his.


THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE. 57
"Everything being prepared, we bade adieu to St.
Louis, and set forth upon the wild prairies.
"Ours was but a small caravan, as the large one
which crosses annually to Santa Fe had taken its
departure some weeks before. There were about
twenty men of us, and less than half that number of
wagons. The men were nearly all Mexicans, who
had been to the United States to procure some pieces
of cannon, for which they had been sent by the gover-
nor of Santa Fe. They had the cannon along with
them—two brass howitzers, with their carriages and
caissons.
"My friends, I need not tell you the various inci-
dents that befell us, in crossing the great plains and
rivers that lie between St. Louis and Santa Fe.
Upon the plains we fell in with the Pawnees; and
near the crossing of the Arkansas, we encountered a
small tribe of Cheyennes; but neither of these bands
offered us any molestation. When we were nearly
two months on our journey, the party left the usual
trail taken by the traders, and struck across to one
of the head tributaries of the Canadian river. This
they did to avoid meeting the Arapahoes, who were
hostile to the Mexican people. We kept down
the banks of this stream as far as the Canadian


58
THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
itself; and, then turning westward, travelled up the
latter. We travelled upon the right or southern
bank, for we had forded the Canadian on reach-
ing it.
"It soon became apparent that we had got into
a very rough and difficult country. It was the
morning of the second day, after we had turned west-
ward up the Canadian river. We were making but
slow progress, as the trail we had to follow was
intersected at frequent intervals with buffalo roads
running into the river from the south. Many of
these were deep ditches, although quite dry; and
every now and then we were compelled to stop the
whole train until we levelled in the banks, and made,
a road for the wagons to pass.
"In crossing one of these ruts, the tongue of my
wagon was- broken; and Cudjo and I, having loosed
out the oxen, set about splicing it the best way we
could. The rest of the train was ahead of us, and
kept moving on. My friend, the young Scotchman,
seeing that we had stopped, came galloping back,
and offered to remain and assist us. I declined
his offer, telling him to move on with the rest,
as I would easily overtake them; at all events, I
would get up, whenever they halted for their night


THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
59
camp. It was not unfrequent for a single wagon,
with its attendants, thus to stay behind the rest, to
make some repairs. When it did not come up to the
night encampment, a party would go back early the
next morning to ascertain the cause of the delay.
For several years, before the time I am telling you
about, there had been no trouble with the Indians in
crossing the prairies; and consequently the people of
the caravans had grown less cautious. Besides, we
were then in a part of the country where Indians had
been seldom seen—as it was an extremely desert
place, without grass or game of any description. On
this account—and knowing that Cudjo was an excel-
lent carpenter—I had no fears but that I could be up
with the others before night. So, by my persuasion,
the young Scotchman left me, and rode on to look
after his own wagons.
"After about an hour's hammering and splicing,
Cudjo and I got the tongue all right again; and
'hitching up' the oxen, we drove on after our
companions. We had not gone a mile, when the
shoeing of one of the wheels—that had shrunk from
the extreme dryness of the atmosphere—rolled off;
and the felloes came very near flying asunder. We
were luckily able to prevent this, by suddenly stop-


00
THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
ping, and setting a prop under the body of the wagon.
This, as you may perceive, was a much more serious
accident than the breaking of the tongue; and at
first I thought of galloping forward, and asking
some of our companions to come back to my assist-
ance. But in consequence of my inexperience upon
the prairies, I knew that I had given them consider-
able trouble along the route, at which some of them
had murmured—being Mexicans — and in one or
two instances had refused to assist me. I might
bring back the young Scotchman, it was true, but—
'Come!' cried I, 'it is not yet as bad as Cairo.
Come, Cudjo! we shall do it ourselves, and be in-
debted to no one.'
"' Dat's right, Massa Roff!' replied Cudjo;
'ebery man put him own shoulder to him own
wheel, else de wheel no run good.'
"And so the brave fellow and I stripped off our
coats, and set to work in earnest. My dear Mary
here, who had been brought up a delicate lady, but
could suit herself gracefully to every situation, helped
us all she could, cheering us every now and then
with an allusion to Cairo, and our farm under the
water. It has always a comforting effect, to per-
sons in situations of difficulty, to reflect that they


THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
61
might still be worse off, and such reflections will often
prop up the drooping spirits, and lead to success in
conquering the difficulty. 'Never give up' is a
good old motto, and God will help them who show
perseverance and energy.
"So did it happen with us. By dint of wedging and
hammering we succeeded in binding the wheel as
fast as ever; but it was near night before we had
finished the job. When we had got it upon the
axle again, and were ready for the road, we saw,
with some apprehension, that the sun was setting.
We knew we could not travel by night, not knowing
what road to take; and, as we were close to water, we
resolved to stay where we were until morning.
"We were up before day, and, having cooked
and eaten our breakfasts, moved forward upon the
track made by the caravan. We wondered that none
of our companions had come back during the night
—as this is usual in such cases,—but we expected
every moment to meet some of them returning to
look after us. We travelled on, however, until
noon, and still none of them appeared. We could
see before us a rough tract of country with rocky
hills, and some trees growing in the valleys; and the
trail we were following evidently led among these.


62
THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
"As we pushed forward, we heard among the
hills a loud crashing report like the bursting of a
bombshell. What could it mean? We knew there
were some shells along with the howitzers. Were
our comrades attacked by Indians, and was it one of
the cannon they had fired upon them? No; that
could not be. There was but one report, and I knew
that the discharge of a shell from a howitzer must
give two,—that which accompanies the discharge,
and then the bursting of the bomb itself. Could one
of the shells have burst by accident? That was
more likely; and we halted, and listened for further
sounds. We stopped for nearly half an hour, but
could hear nothing, and we then moved on again. We
were filled with apprehension—less from the report
we had heard, than from the fact that none of the men
had come back to see what delayed us. We still fol-
lowed the track of the wagons. We saw that they
must have made a long march on the preceding day,
for it was near sunset when we entered among the
hills, and as yet we had not reached their camp of
the night before. At length we came in sight of it,
—and oh! horror! what a sight! My blood runs
cold when I recall it to my memory. There were
the wagons — most of them with their tilts torn


THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
63
off, and part of their contents scattered over the
ground. There were the cannons too, with fires
smouldering near them, but not a human being was
in sight! Yes, there were human beings—dead men
lying over the ground! and living things—wolves
they were—growling, and quarrelling, and tearing
the flesh from their bodies! Some of the animals
that had belonged to the caravan were also prostrate—
dead horses, mules, and oxen. The others were not
to be seen.
"We were all horror-struck at the sight. We saw
at once that our companions had been attacked and
slaughtered by some band of savage Indians. We
would have retreated, but it was now too late, for
we were close in to the camp, before we had seen
it. Had the savages still been upon the ground,
retreat would be of no avail. But I knew that they
must have gone some time, from the havoc the
wolves had made in their absence.
"I left my wife by our wagon, where Harry and
Frank remained with their little rifles ready to guard
her, and along with Cudjo I went forward to view the
bloody scene. We chased the wolves from their re-
past. There was a pack of more than fifty of these
hideous animals, and they only ran a short distance


64 THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
from us. On reaching the ground we saw that the
bodies were those of our late comrades, but they were
all so mutilated that we could not distinguish a single
one of them. They had every one been scalped by
the Indians; and it was fearful to look upon them as ^
they lay. I saw the fragments of one of the shells
that had burst in the middle of the camp, and had \
torn two or three of the wagons to pieces. The\:e
had not been many articles of merchandise in this
wagons, as it was not a traders' caravan; but suclr*
things as they carried, that could be of any value 1
to the Indians, had been taken away. The other
articles, most of them heavy and cumbersome things,
were lying over the ground, some of them broken.
It was evident the savages had gone off in a hurry.
Perhaps they had been frightened by the bursting of
the shell, not knowing what it was, and from its ter-
rible effects—which they no doubt witnessed and
felt—believing it to be the doing of the Great Spirit.
"I looked on all sides for my friend, the young
Scotchman, but I could not distinguish his body
from the rest. I looked around, too, for his wife—
who was the only woman besides Mary that accom-
panied the caravan. Her body was not to be seen.
'No doubt,' said I to Cudjo, 'the savages have














THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
G5
carried her off alive.' At this moment we heard the
howls and hoarse worrying of dogs, with the fiercer
snarling of wolves, as though the dogs were battling
with these animals. The noises came from a thicket
near the camp. We knew that the miner had
brought with him two large dogs from St. Louis. It
must be they. We ran in the direction of the
thicket, and dashed in among the bushes. Guided
by the noises, we kept on, and soon came in sight of
the objects that had attracted us. Two large dogs,
foaming and torn and covered with blood, were
battling against several wolves, and keeping them off
from some dark object that lay among the leaves.
We saw that the dark object was a woman, and
clinging around her neck, and screaming with terror,
was a beautiful child! At a glance we saw that the
woman was dead, and"
Here the narrative of our host was suddenly inter-
rupted. M'Knight, the miner, who was one of our
party, and who had appeared labouring under some
excitement during the whole of the recital, suddenly
sprang to his feet, exclaiming,—
"O God! my wife—my poor wife! Oh! Rolfe—
JRolfe—do you not know me?"
"M'Knight!" cried Rolfe, springing up with
p


66
THE CARAVAN AND ITS FATE.
an air of astonishment, "M'Knight! it is he in-
deed!"
"My wife!—my poor wife!" continued the miner,
in accents of sorrow. "I knew they had killed her. I
saw her remains afterwards—but my child! Oh,
Rolfe ! what of my child?"
"She is there!" said our host, pointing to the
darkest of the two girls, and the next moment the
miner had lifted the little Luisa in his arms, and
was covering her with his kisses. He was her
father!


THE MINER'S STORY.
67
CHAPTER VIII.
THE MINER'S STORY.
It would be very difficult, my young readers, to
describe to you the scene which followed this unex-
pected recognition. The family had all risen to
their feet, and with cries and tears in their eyes
clung around the little Luisa as though they were
about to lose her for ever. And, indeed, it is likely
that an indistinct thought of this kind had flitted
across their minds, when they saw that she was no
longer their sister—for they had almost forgotten
that she was not so, and they loved her as well as if
she was. Up to this time none of them had thought
of her in any other way than as a sister; and Harry,
with whom she was a great favourite, used to call her
his "dark sister," while the younger, Mary, was
known as the "fair" one.
In the midst of the group stood the little brunette,


68
THE MINER'S STORY.
like the rest, overwhelmed with singular emotions,
but calmer, and apparently more mistress of her
feelings, than any of them.
The traders and hunters were all upon their feet
congratulating M'Knight on the happy event; while
each of them shook hands with our host and his
wife, whom they now remembered having heard of, as
well as the story of the massacre. Old Cudjo leaped
over the floor, whipping the panthers and wolf-dogs,
and cutting various capers, while the very animals
themselves howled with a sort of fierce joy. Our host
went into an inner apartment of the cabin, and pre-
sently returned with a large jar of brown earthen-
ware. Cups cut out of the calabash were set upon
the table; and into these a red liquid was poured
from the jar, and we were all invited to drink.
What was our surprise on tasting the beverage to
find that it was wine—wine in the middle of the
desert! But it was so—excellent wine — home-
made, as our host informed us—pressed from the
wild muscadine grapes that grew in plenty through
the valley.
As soon as we had all passed the cups of wine,
and had got fairly seated again, M'Knight, at the
request of Bolfe, took up the thread of the story, in


THE MINERS STORY.
69
order to detail how he had escaped from the Indians
on that fearful night. His story was a short one,
and ran as follows :—
"After I left you," said he, addressing Rolfe,
"where you had broken your wagon, I rode on,
and overtook the caravan. The road, as you may
remember, became smooth and level; and as there
appeared to be no good camping-ground nearer than
the hills, we kept on for them without stopping.
It was near sundown, when we reached the little
stream where you saw the wagons. There, of
course, we halted, and formed our camp. I did not
expect you to come in for an hour or so later, as I
calculated that it would take you about that length
of time to mend the tongue. We kindled fires, and,
having cooked our suppers and eaten them, were
sitting around the logs chatting, smoking, and some
of the Mexicans, as is their custom, playing at
tnonte. We had put out no guard, as we had no
expectation that there were Indians in that quarter.
Some of the men said they had travelled the trail
before; and had never met an Indian within fifty
miles of the place. At length it became dark, and I
began to grow uneasy about you, fearing you might
not be able to make out our trail in the night.


ro
THE MIKER's STORY.
Leaving my wife and child by one of the fires, I
climbed a hill that looked in the direction you should
have come; but I could see nothing for the darknessj
I stood for some time listening, thinking I might
hear the rattle of your wheels, or some one of you
talking. All at once a yell broke upon my ears, that
caused me to turn toward the camp with a feeling of
consternation. I well knew the meaning of that
yell. I knew it was the war-cry of the Arapahoes.
I saw savage figures dashing about in the red glare
of the fires. I heard shots and shouts, and screams
and groans; and, among the rest, I recognised the
voice of my wife calling me by name!
"I did not hesitate a moment, but ran down the
hill, and flung myself into the thick of the fight,
which was now raging fiercely. I had nothing in my
hands but a large knife, with which I struck on all
sides, prostrating several of the savages. Here I
fought for a moment, and there I ran, calling for
my wife. I passed through among the wagons, and
on all sides of the camp crying, 'Luisa!' There was
no answer; she was nowhere to be seen. Again I
was face to face with painted savages, and battling
with desperation. Most of my comrades were soon
killed, and I was forced out among the bushes,


THE MINER'S STORY.
71
and into the darkness, by one of the Indians, who
pressed upon me with his spear. I felt the weapon
pass through my thigh, and I fell impaled upon the
shaft. The Indian fell upon top of me; but, before
he could struggle up again, I had thrust him with
my knife, and he lay senseless.
"I rose to my feet, and succeeded in drawing out
the spear. I saw that the struggle had ceased around
the fires; and, believing that my comrades, as well
as my wife and child, were all dead, I turned my
back upon the fires, and stole off into the thicket,
determined to get as far as possible from the camp.
I had not gone more than three hundred yards when
I fell, exhausted with the loss of blood and the
pain of my wound. I had fallen near some rocks
at the bottom of a precipice, where I saw there was
a small crevice or cave. I had still strength enough
left to enable me to reach this cave, and crawl into it;
but I fainted as soon as the effort was over.
"I must have lain insensible for many hours. When
I came to consciousness again, I saw that daylight
was shining into the cave. I felt that I was very
weak, and could scarce move myself. My wound
stared me in the face,—still undressed, but the blood
had ceased flowing of its own accord. I tore up my


TO
THE MTNER's STORY.
shirt, and dressed it as well as I was able; and then,
getting nearer to the mouth of the cave, I lay and
listened. I could hear the voices of the Indians,
though very indistinctly, in the direction of the camp.
This continued for an hour or more; and then the
rocks rang with a terrible explosion, which I knew
to be the bursting of a shell. After that I could
hear loud shouts, and soon after, the hurried tramp-
ling of many horses; and then all was silence. I
thought at the time that the Indians had taken their
departure; but I knew not what had caused them to
go off in such a hurry. I found out afterwards. Your
conjecture was right. They had thrown one of the
bombs into the fire, and the fuse catching, had
caused it to explode, killing several of their number.
As they believed it to be the hand of the Great
Spirit, they had hastily gathered up such plunder as
was most desirable to them, and ridden away from
the spot. I did not know this at the time, and I
lay still in my cave. For several hours all was
silence; but, as night drew near, I fancied I again
heard noises about the camp, and I thought the
Indians might not yet be gone.
"When darkness came, I would have crawled
toward the camp, but I could not; and I lay all


THE MINER'S STORY.
73
night in the cave, chafing with the pain of my
wound, and listening to the howling of the wolves.
That was a terrible night.
"Morning dawned again, and I could hear no
sounds. I was now suffering dreadfully, both from
hunger and thirst. I saw a well-known tree growing
in front of the cave. I knew it, because the same
tree is found upon the mountains of the Mimbres,
near our mine. It was a species of pine, called by
the Mexicans 'pinon,' whose cones afford food to
thousands of the miserable savages who roam over
the great western desert from the Rocky Mountains
to California. If I could only reach this tree, I
might find some of its nuts upon the ground; and,
with this hope, I dragged myself painfully out of the
cave. It was not twenty paces from the rocks where the
tree grew; yet, with my weakness and the pain of my
wound, I was nearly half an hour in reaching it. To
my joy, I found the ground under it covered with
cones. I was not long in stripping off the rinds of
many of them, and getting the seeds, which I ate
greedily, until I had satisfied my hunger.
"But another appetite far more terrible was crav-
ing me—I was tortured with thirst. Could I crawl
as far as the camp? I knew that there I should find


74 the miner's story.
water in the stream; and, from the position of the
cave, I knew I could not find it nearer. I must
either reach it or die; and, with this thought to spur
me on, I commenced the short journey of three hun-
dred yards, although I was not certain I might live to
see the end of it. I had not crawled six paces through
the underwood, when a bunch of small white flowers
attracted my attention. They were the flowers of the
sorrel-tree—the beautiful lyonia—the very sight of
which sent a thrill of gladness through my heart.
I was soon under the tree, and, clutching one of its
lowermost branches, I stripped it of its smooth, ser-
rated leaves, and eagerly chewed them. Another
and another branch were successively divested of
their foliage, until the little tree looked as if a flock
of goats had been breakfasting upon it. I lay for
nearly an hour masticating the soft leaves, and swal-
lowing their delicious and acid juice. At length my
thirst was alleviated, and I fell asleep under the cool
shadow of the lyonia.
"When I awoke again, I felt much stronger, and
with new appetite to eat. The fever which had begun
to threaten me was much allayed; and I knew this
was to be attributed to the virtue of the leaves I had
eaten—for besides giving relief to thirst, the sap of


THE MINER'S STORY.
75
the sorrel-tree is a most potent febrifuge. Gathering
a fresh quantity of the leaves, and tying them toge-
ther, I again set out for the pinon-tree. I took the
leaves with me, so that I should not have to make the
return trip to the sorrel that night again. In a few
minutes I had reached the end of my journey, and
was busy among the cones. You laugh at my call-
ing it a journey; but I assure you it was a most
painful one to me, although it was not ten paces
from one tree to the other. The slightest motion
agonized me.
"That night I passed under the pinon, and in the
morning, having made my breakfast of the seeds, I
collected my pockets full, and set out again for the
sorrel-tree. Here I spent the day; and with a fresh
cargo of leaves returned at night to the pinon, where
I again slept.
"Thus, for four successive days and nights, I
passed between these two brave trees, living upon the
sustenance they afforded. The fever was luckily
warded off by the leaves of the friendly lyonia. My
wound began to heal, and the pain left it. The
wolves came at intervals; but, seeing my long knife,
and that I still lived, they kept at a wary distance.
"Although the leaves of the sorrel assuaged my


76
THE MINER'S STORY.
thirst, they did not satisfy it. I longed for a good
draught of water; and, on the fourth day, I set out
for the stream. I was now able to creep upon my
hands and one knee, dragging the wounded limb after.
When I had got about half-way through the under-
wood, I came upon an object that almost congealed
the blood in my veins. It was a human skeleton. I
knew it was not that of a man — I knew it was"
Here the voice of the miner became choked with
sobs, and he was unable to finish the sentence.
Nearly all in the room — even the rude hunters —
wept as they beheld his emotion. After an effort he
continued:—
"I saw that she had been buried; and I won-
dered at this, for I knew the Indians had not
done it. I was never certain until this hour who
had performed for her that sacred rite. I thought,
however, it must have been you; for after I had re-
covered I went back upon the trail; and, not finding
your wagon anywhere, I knew you must have come
on to the camp, and gone away again. I looked in
every direction to find which way you had gone; but,
as you will remember, there was a heavy fall of rain
shortly after, and that had obliterated every track.
All this happened after I was able to get upon my


THE MINER'S STORY.
77
feet, which was not for a month after the night of
the massacre. But let me go back in my narrative
to where I had found the remains of my poor wife.
"The wolves had torn the body from its grave. I
looked for some vestige of my child. With my hands
I dug down into the loose mould and leaves, which
you had thrown over her body; but no infant was
there. I crawled on to the camp. I found that, just
as you have described it—except that the bodies were
now bleaching skeletons, and the wolves had taken
their departure. I searched around, on all sides,
thinking I might find some traces of my little Luisa;
but in vain. 'The Indians have either carried the
child away,' thought I, ' or the fierce wolves have
devoured it altogether.'
"In one of the wagons I found an old mess
chest lying hid under some rubbish. It had escaped
the hurried plunder of the savages. On opening it,
I saw that it contained, among other things, some
coffee and several pounds of jerked meat. This was
a fortunate event, for the meat and coffee nourished
me, until I was able to gather a sufficient quantity of
the pinons.
"In this way I spent a whole month, sleeping in
one of the wagons at night, and crawling off to col-


7.8
THE MrNEH's STORY.
lect pifions during the day. I had but little fear
that the Indians would return; for I knew that that
part of the country was not inhabited by any tribe;
and we must have fallen in with a party of the Ara-
pahoes, wandering out of their usual range. As
soon as I grew strong enough, I dug a grave, where
I interred the remains of my poor wife; and now I
began to think of taking my leave of that melancholy
scene.
"I knew that I was not much more than a hundred
miles distant from the eastern settlements of New
Mexico; but a hundred miles of uninhabited wilder-
ness, and on foot, was a barrier that seemed almost
as impassable as the ocean itself. I was determined,
however, to make the attempt; and I set about sew-
ing a bag in which I should carry my roasted pinons
— the only provision I could get to sustain me
through the journey.
"While engaged in this operation, with my eyes
fixed upon the work, I heard footsteps near me. I
raised my head suddenly, and in alarm. What was
my joy, when I saw that the object which had startled
me was neither more nor less than a mule, that was
slowly coming towards the camp! I recognised it as
one of the mules that had belonged to our caravan.


THE MINER'S STORY.
70
"The animal had not yet observed me; and I
thought it might shy away, if I showed myself too sud-
denly. I resolved, therefore, to capture it by strata-
gem. I crept into the wagon, where I knew there was
a lazo; and having got hold of this, I placed myself
in ambush, where I saw the mule would most likely
pass. I had scarcely got the noose ready, when, to my
extreme satisfaction, the mule came directly to where
I lay expecting it. The next moment its neck was
firmly grasped in the loop of the lazo, and the animal
itself stood tied to the tongue of one of the wagons.
It was one of our mules that had escaped from the
Indians, and after wandering over the country for
weeks had now found the track, and would, no doubt,
had I not caught it, have found its way back to St.
Louis; for this is by no means an unfrequent occur-
rence with animals that stray off from the caravans.
It soon became tame with me, and in a few days
more I had manufactured a bridle and saddle; and,
mounting with my bag of roasted pinons, I rode off
on the trail for Santa Fe. In about a week I reached
that place in safety, and continued on southward to
the mine.
"My history since that time can have but little
interest for any of you. It is that of a man sor


80
THE MIKER'S STORY.
rowing for the loss of all he loved on earth. But
you, Rolfe, you have given me new life in restoring
to me my child, my Luisa; and every chapter of
your history, woven as it is with hers, will be to
me, at least, of the deepest interest. Go on then,
—go on!"
With this the miner concluded; and our host, after
inviting each of us to re-fill our cups with wine, and
our pipes with tobacco, resumed his narrative where
he had left it off, in consequence of the happy, but
unexpected episode, to which it had led.


LOST IN THE DESERT.
81
CHAPTER IX.
LOST IN THE DESERT.
"Well, my friends," proceeded our host, "it was a
terrible sight to look upon—those fierce, gaunt wolves
—the mad and foaming mastiffs—the dead mother,
and the terrified and screaming child. Of course,
the wolves fled at the approach of myself and Cudjo,
and the dogs whimpered with delight. Well they
might, poor brutes! for had we not come to their aid,
they could not have held out much longer against
such fearful odds. Although the battle had not
been a long one, and commenced most likely after
we had driven the wolves from the camp, yet the
poor mastiffs were torn and bleeding in many places.
As I stooped down to take up the little Luisa, she
still clung close around the neck of her mother, cry-
ing for her ' mamma' to awake. I saw that her mamma
would never wake again. She was lifeless and cold.
a


82 LOST IN THE DESERT.
There -was an arrow in her breast. It was plain, that
after receiving this wound she had fled into the
thicket—no doubt followed by the faithful dogs—and,
favoured by the darkness, had kept on, until she had
fallen and died. The position of her arms showed
that she had breathed her last clasping her child to
her bosom.
"Leaving Cudjo to guard the body, I carried the
child back to my own wagon. Although so lately
terrified with the battle of the wolves and dogs, the
little creature cried at being separated from its mother,
and struggled in my arms to be taken back."
Here Rolfe's narrative was again interrupted by
the sobs of M'Knight, who—although a firm, lion-
hearted man—could not restrain himself on listening
to these painfully affecting details. The children of
Rolfe, too, repeatedly wept aloud. The "dark sister"
herself seemed least affected of all. Perhaps that
terrible scene, occurring at such an early period of
her life, had impressed her character with the firm-
ness and composure which afterwards marked it.
Every now and then she bent towards the "fair
one," throwing her arms around the neck of the lat-
ter, and endeavouring to restrain her tears.
"I gave the child to my wife," continued Rolfe,


LOST IN THE DESERT.
83
after a pause, " and in the company of little Mary,
then about her own age, she soon ceased crying, and
fell asleep in my wife's bosom. I took a spade which
I had in my wagon, and going back I dug a grave;
and, with the help of Cudjo, hastily interred the
body. I say hastily, for we did not know the mo-
ment we might stand in need of some one to do as
much for ourselves. It seems that our labour was
in vain; yet even at the time, had we known this
was to be the case, we should not the less have acted
as we did. There was some satisfaction in per-
forming this last sacred and Christian ceremony for
our murdered friend; and both Cudjo and I felt it to
be nothing more than our duty.
"We did not remain any longer near the spot, but
hastening back to our wagon, I led the oxen in
among some trees, where they might be hidden from
view. Commending my wife and little ones to God,
I shouldered my rifle, and set out—for the purpose of
discovering whether the savages had left the place,
and in what direction they had gone. It was my
intention, should I be able to satisfy myself about
the road they had taken, to go by some other course,
yet by one that would bring me back into the
trail, so that I could go on to the country of New


84
LOST IS THE DESERT.
Mexico. I knew very well that at that late season,
and with oxen worn out, as ours were, I could never
get back to St. Louis—which was nearly eight
hundred miles distant.
"After proceeding a mile or two—creeping through
bushes, and skulking behind rocks—I saw the trail
of the Indians striking out into an open plain,
in a due westerly direction. They must have
formed a large band, and all mounted, as the tracks
of their horses testified. Seeing that they had
moved off westward, I formed the resolution of
making two or three days' journey to the south, and
afterwards turning in a westerly direction. This
would most likely secure me from meeting them
again, and would bring me, as I guessed, to the east-
ern ranges of the Rocky Mountains through which I
might pass into the valley of New Mexico. I had
heard my companions speak of a more southern pass
through these mountains, than that which lies near
Santa Fe; and I hoped to be able to reach it, although
I believed it to be two hundred miles distant.
With these plans in my mind, I returned to where I
had left my little party.
"It was night when I got back to the wagon, and
I found Mary and the children in great distress


LOST IN THE DESERT.
85
at my delay; but I had brought them good news—
that the Indians were gone away.
"I had thought of remaining all night where we
■were; but, not being yet fully satisfied that the
Indians were gone, I changed my intention. Seeing
that we were to have a moon, and that a smooth
plain stretched away towards the south, I con-
cluded that it would be better to make a night jour-
ney of it, and put twenty miles, if possible, between
us and the camp. All agreed with this proposal. In
fact, we were all equally anxious to get away from
that fearful spot; and had we stayed by it, not one
of us could have slept a wink. The apprehension
that the savages might return, and the excited state
of our feelings—to say nothing of the terrible howl-
ing of the wolves—would have kept us awake; so,
resolving to take our departure, we waited for the
rising of the moon.
"We did not waste time, my friends. You all
know that water is the great want in these deserts,
both for man and beast. We knew not where or
when we might next find it; so we took the precau-
tion to fill our vessels at the stream. We filled all
we had that would hold water. Alas! these were
not enough, as you shall hear.


86
LOST IN THE DESERT.
"The moon rose at length. She seemed to smile
upon the horrid picture that lay below at the de-
serted camp; but we stayed no longer to contem-
plate it. Leading our oxen out of their cache, we
struck out into the open plain, in a direction as nearly
south as I could guide myself. I looked northward
for the star in the tail of the Little Bear—the polar
star—which I soon found by the pointers of the
Ursa Major; and keeping this directly on our backs,
we proceeded on. Whenever the inequalities of the
ground forced us out of our track, I would again turn
to this little star, and consult its unfailing index.
There it twinkled in the blue heavens like the eye
of a friend. It was the finger of God pointing us
onward.
"And onward we went—here creeping around some
gaping fissure, that opened across our track—there
wading over a sandy swell—and anon rolling briskly
along the smooth, herbless plain; for the country we
were passing through was a parched and treeless
desert.
"We made a good night's journey of it, cheered
by the prospect of escaping from the savages. When
day broke, we were twenty miles from the camp. The
rough hills that surrounded it were completely lost to


LOST IN THE DESERT.
87
our view, and we knew from this that we had travelled
a long way; for some of these hills were of great
height. We knew that we must have passed over
a considerable arc of the earth's surface before
their tops could have sunk below the horizon. Of
course, some intervening ridges, such as the sandy
swells I have mentioned, helped to hide them from
our view; but, at all events, we had the satisfaction
of knowing that the savages, even had they returned
to the camp, could not now see us from that point.
We only feared the chances of their discovering our
tracks, and following us. Urged by this apprehen-
sion, we did not halt when the day broke, but kept
on until near noontide. Then we drew up—for our
oxen, as well as the horse, were completely tired
down, and could go no farther without rest.
"It was but a poor rest for them—with neither
grass nor water—not a blade of anything green except
the artemisia plant, the wild wormwood — which, of
course, neither horse nor oxen would touch. This
grew all around us in low thickets. Its gnarled
and twisted bushes, with their white silvery leaves,
so far from gladdening the eye, only served to
render the scene more dreary and desolate—for we
knew that this plant denoted the extreme barrenness


88
LOST IN THE DESERT.
of the soil. We knew that, wherever it grew, the
desert was around it.
"It was, indeed, but a poor rest for our animals—
for the hot sun glanced down upon them during
the noon hours, making them still more thirsty.
We could not afford them a drop of the precious
water; for we ourselves were oppressed with extreme
thirst, and our stock was hourly diminishing. It was
as much as we could to spare a small quantity to the
dogs, Castor and Pollux.
"Long before night, we once more yoked to the
oxen, and continued our journey, in the hope of
reaching some stream or spring. By sunset we
had made ten miles farther to the south, but no
landmark as yet appeared in sight—nothing to indi-
cate the presence of water. We could see nothing
around us but the sterile plain stretching on all
sides to the horizon—not even a bush, or rock, or
the form of a wild animal, relieved the monoto-
nous expanse. We were as much alone, as if
we had been in an open boat in the middle of the
ocean!
"We began to grow alarmed, and to hesitate.
Should we go back? No, that would never do. "Even
had the prospect at the end of a backward journey been


LOST IN THE DESERT.
89
more cheering, we felt uncertain whether we might
be able to reach the stream we had just left. We
should surely reach water as soon by keeping for-
ward; and with this thought we travelled on through
all the livelong night.
"When morning came, I again surveyed the hori-
zon, but could see no object along its level line. I
was riding gloomily alongside the poor oxen, watch-
ing their laborious efforts, when a voice sounded
in my ears. It was that of Frank, who was stand-
ing in the fore part of the wagon, looking out from
tinder the tilt.
"' Papa! papa!' cried he, 'look at the pretty
white cloud!'
"I looked up at the boy, to see what he meant.
I saw that he was pointing to the south-east, and I
turned my eyes in that direction. I uttered an ex-
clamation of joy, which startled my companions; for
I saw that what Frank had taken for a white cloud
was the snowy cap of a mountain! I might have
seen it before, had my eyes been searching in that
quarter; but they were not, as I was examining
the sky towards the south and west.
"Guided by no very extraordinary experience, I
knew that where there was snow there must be


90
LOST IN THE DESERT.
water; and, without another word, I directed Cudjo
to head his oxen for the mountain. It was out of
the way we wanted to go; but we thought not of
that, for the saving of our lives had now grown to be
the only question with us.
"The mountain was still twenty miles distant. We
could have seen it much farther off, but we had been
travelling through the night. The question was, would
our oxen be able to reach it? They were already
tottering in their tracks. If they should break
down, could we reach it? Our water was all gone,
and we were suffering from thirst as the sun rose.
A river, thought I, must run from the mountain, fed
by the melting of its snows. Perhaps we might
come to this river before arriving at the mountain
foot. But, no;—the plain evidently sloped down
from us to the mountain. Whatever stream ran
from it must go the other way. We should find no
water before reaching the mountain—perhaps, not
then; and, tortured with these doubts, we pushed
gloomily forward.
"By noon the oxen began to give out. One of
them fell dead, and we left him. The other three
could not go much farther. Every article that was
of no present use was thrown from the wagon to


LOST IN THE DESERT.
01
lighten it, and left lying on the plain; but still the
poor brutes were scarce able to drag it along. We
went at a snail's pace.
"A short rest might recruit the animals, but I
could not bring myself to halt again, as my heart
was agonized by the cries of my suffering children.
Mary bore up nobly; so, too, did the boys. For my-
self, I could not offer a word of consolation, for I knew
that we were still ten miles from the foot of the moun-
tain. I thought of the possibility of riding on ahead,
and bringing back some water in the vessels; but I
saw that my horse could never stand it. He was even
now unable to carry me, and I was afoot, leading
him. Cudjo also walked by the side of the oxen.
Another of these now gave up, and only two re-
mained to drag the vehicle.
"At this terrible moment several objects appeared
before us on the plain, that caused me to cry out
with delight. They were dark-green masses, of dif-
ferent sizes—the largest of them about the size of a
bee-cap. They looked like a number of huge hedge-
hogs rolled up, and presenting on all sides their
thorny spikes. On seeing them, I dropped my horse;
and, drawing my knife, ran eagerly forward. My
companions thought I had gone mad, not under-


99
LOST IN THE DESERT.
standing why I should have drawn my knife on
such harmless-looking objects, and not knowing
what they were. But I knew well what they were:
I knew they were the globe cacti.
"In a moment's time I had peeled the spikelets
from several of them; and as the wondering party
came up, and saw the dark-green succulent veget-
ables, with the crystal water oozing out of their pores,
they were satisfied that I had not gone mad.
"In a short while, we had cut the huge spheroids
into slices, which we chewed with avidity. We set
some of them also before the horse and oxen, both
of which devoured them greedily, sap, fibres, and
all; while the dogs lapped the cool liquid wherever
they were cut
"It is true, that this did not quench thirst, in the
same way that a drink of water would have done;
but it greatly relieved us, and would, perhaps, enable
us to reach the mountain. We resolved to halt for
a short while, in order to rest the oxen. Unfortu-
nately, the relief had come too late for one of them.
It had been his last stretch; and when we were about
to start again, we found that he had lain down and
was unable to rise. We saw that we must leave
him; and, taking such harness as we could find, we


LOST IN THE DESERT.
93
put the horse in his place, and moved onward. We
were in hopes of finding another little garden of
cactus plants; but none appeared, and we toiled on,
suffering as before.
"When we had got within about five miles of the
mountain-foot, the other ox broke down, and fell—aa
we supposed—dead. We could take the wagon no
farther; but it was no time either to hesitate or halt:
we must try it afoot, or perish where we were.
"I loosed out the horse, and left him to his
will—I saw he was no longer able to carry any of us.
I took an axe from the wagon—also a tin pot, and a
piece of dry beef that still remained to us. Cudjo
shouldered the axe and little Mary; I carried the
beef, the pot, Luisa, and my rifle; while my wife,
Frank, and Harry, each held something in their hands.
Thus burdened, we bade adieu to the wagon, and
struck off toward the mountain. The dogs folio sved;
and the poor horse, not willing to be left behind,
came tottering after.
"There is not much more of that journey
to be detailed. We toiled through those five
miles the best way we coura. As we drew nearer
to the mountain, we could see deep dark ravines
running down its sides, and in the bottom of one we


94
LOST IN THE DESERT.
distinguished a silvery thread, which we knew was
the foam of water as it dashed over the rocks. The
sight gave us new energy, and in another hour we
had reached the hanks of a crystal stream, and were
offering thanks for our deliverance.
4


ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO. 95
CHAPTER X.
ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO.
"Well, my friends, we had arrived on the banks of
a rivulet, and were thanking God for bringing us
safely there. We soon satisfied our thirst, as you
may believe, and began to look around us. The
stream we had reached was not that which runs into
the valley here, but altogether on the other side of
the mountain. It was but a mere rill, and I saw
that several similar ones issued from the ravines,
and after running a short distance into the plain,
fell off toward the south-east, and united with
others running from that side. I found after-
wards that they all joined into the same channel,
forming a considerable river, which runs from this
elevated plain in an easterly direction; and which I
take to be a head-water of the Great Red River of
Louisiana, or perhaps of the Brazos, or Colorado, of


96 ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO.
Texas. I have called it a considerable river. That
is not quite correct; for although, where they all
unite, they form a good-sized body of water, yet
twenty miles farther down, for three-fourths of the
year the channel is perfectly dry; and that is the case
I know not how far beyond. The water, which passes
from the mountain at all times, is either evaporated
by the hot sun, or sinks into the sands of its own bed,
during a run of twenty miles. It is only in times of
great rain—a rare occurrence here — or when very
hot weather melts an unusual quantity of the snow,
that there is water enough to carry the stream over
a flat sandy tract which stretches away to the east-
ward. All these things I found out afterwards, and
as you, my friends, know them to be common phe-
nomena of the Desert, I shall not now dwell upon
them.
"I saw that, where we were, there was but little
chance of getting anything to eat. The sides of the
mountain were rugged and grim, with here and
there a stunted cedar hanging from the rocks.
The small patches of grass and willows that lined the
banks of the little rills—although cheering to the
eye, when compared with the brown barrenness of
the Desert—offered but little prospect that we should
■


ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO.
97
get any thing to eat there. If the Desert stretched
away to the south of the mountain, as we saw that it
did to the north, east, and west, then we had only
reached a temporary resting-place, and we might
still perish, if not from thirst, from what was equally
as bad—hunger.
"This was uppermost in our thoughts at the time,
—for we had not eaten a morsel during that day; so
we turned our attention to the piece of dried meat.
"' Let us cook it, and make a soup,' said Mary;
'that will be better for the children.' My poor
wife! I saw that the extreme fatigue she had un-
dergone had exhausted her strength, yet still she
endeavoured to be cheerful.
"' Yes, papa, let us make soup; soup is very nice,'
added Frank, trying to cheer his mother by showing
that he was not dismayed.
"' Very well,. then,' I replied. 'Come, Cudjo,
shoulder your axe, and let us to the mountain for
wood. Yonder are some pine-trees near the foot,—
they will make an excellent fire.'
"So Cudjo and I started for the wood, which was
growing about three hundred yards distant, and close
in to the rocks where the stream came down.
"As we drew nearer to the trees, I saw that they
H


98 ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO.
were not pine-trees, but very different indeed. Both
trunks and branches had long thorny spikes upon
them like porcupine's quills, and the leaves were
of a bright shining green, pinnate with small oval
leaflets. But what was most singular was the long
bean-shaped pods that hung down thickly from the
branches. These were about an inch and a half in
breadth, and some of them not less than twelve inches
in length. They were of a reddish-brown, nearly a
claret colour. Except in the colour, they looked
exactly like large bean-pods filled with beans.
"I was not ignorant of what species of tree was
before us. I had seen it before. I knew it was the
honey-locust, or thorny acacia,—the carob-tree of the
East, and the famed 'algarobo' of the Spaniards. I
was not ignorant of its uses neither,—for I knew this
to be the tree upon which (as many suppose) St. John
the Baptist sustained himself in the Desert, where it
is said,' His meat was locusts and wild honey.' Hence
it is sometimes called, 'St. John's bread.' Neither
was Cudjo ignorant of its uses. The moment his
eyes rested upon the long brown legumes, he cried
out, with gestures of delight:—
"' Massa,—Massa Roff, lookee yonder!—beans
and honey for supper!'


ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO.
99
"We were soon under the branches; and while I
proceeded to knock down and collect a quantity of
the ripe fruit, Cudjo went farther up among the
rocks, to procure his firewood from the pines that
grew there.
"I soon filled my handkerchief, and was waiting
for Cudjo, when I heard him shout,—
"' Massa Koff! come dis away, and see de var-
mint— what him be.'
"I immediately ran up among the rocks. On
reaching the spot where Cudjo was, I found him
bending over a crevice or hole in the ground, from
which protruded an object very much like the tail of
a pig.
"'What is it, Cudjo ?' I asked.
"' Don't know, Massa. Varmint I never seed in
Vaginny — looks someting like de ole 'possum.'
"' Catch hold of the tail, and pull him out,'
said I.
"' Lor! Massa Roff, I've tried ma best, but can't
fotch 'im no how. Look yar!' And so saying, my
companion seized the tail, and pulled—seemingly
with all his might — but to no purpose.
"' Did you see the animal when it was outside?'
I inquired.


100 ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO.
"' Yes, Massa; see 'im and chase 'im 'till I tree
him yar in dis cave.'
"' What was it like?'
"' Berry like a pig — maybe more belike ole 'pos-
sum, but cubberd all ober wi' shell like a Vaginny
turtle.'
"' Oh! then — it is an armadillo.'
"' An amadiller! Cudjo niver hear o' dat var-
mint afore.'
"I saw that the animal which had so astonished
my companion was one of those curious living things
— which Nature, in giving variety to her creatures,
has thought proper to form — and which are known
throughout Mexico and South America by the name
of ' armadillos.' They are so called from the Spanish
word ' armado,' which signifies armed—because that
all over their body there is a hard, shell-like covering
divided into bands and regular figures, exactly like
the coats-of-mail worn by the warriors of ancient
times. There is even a helmet covering their heads,
connected with the other parts of the armour by a
joint, which renders this resemblance still more com-
plete and singular. There are many species of these
animals; some of them as large as a full-sized sheep,
but the generality of them are much smaller. The


ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO. 101
curious figuring of the shell that covers them differs
in the different species. In some the segments are
squares, in others hexagons, and in others, again, they
are of a pentagonal shape. In all of them, however,
the figures have a mathematical form and precision,
that is both strange and beautiful. They look as
though they were artificial, — that is, carved by the
hand of man. They are harmless creatures, and most
of the species feed upon herbs and grass. They do
not run very nimbly, though they can go much
faster than one would suppose, considering the heavy
armour which they carry. This, however, is not all in
one shell, but in many pieces connected together by
a tough, pliable skin. Hence they can use their
limbs with sufficient ease. They are not such slow
travellers as the turtles and tortoises. When they
are pursued and overtaken, they sometimes gather
themselves into a round ball, as hedgehogs do; and
if they should happen to be near the edge of a preci-
pice they will roll themselves over to escape from
their enemy. More often when pursued they betake
themselves to their holes, or to any crevice among
rocks that may be near; and this was evidently the
case with that which Cudjo had surprised. When
they can hide their heads, like the ostrich, they


102 ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO.
fancy themselves safe; and so, no doubt, fancied this
one, until he felt the sinewy fingers of Cudjo grasp-
ing him by the tail. It was evident the animal had
run into a shallow crack where he could go no far-
ther, else we would soon have lost sight of his tail;
but it was equally evident, that pulling upon that
appendage was not the method to get him out. I
could see that he had pushed the scaly armour out-
ward and upward, so that it held fast against the
rocks on every side. Moreover, his claws, which
are remarkable both for length and tenacity, were
clutched firmly against the bottom of the crevice.
It would have taken a team of oxen to have pulled
him out, as Cudjo remarked with a grin.
"I had heard of a plan used by the Indians who
hunt the armadillo, and who are very fond of his flesh;
and as I was determined to try it, I told my com-
panion to let go the tail, and stand to one side.
"I now knelt down in front of the cave, and, taking
a small branch of cedar, commenced tickling the
hind-quarters of the animal with the sharp nee-
dles. In a moment I saw that his muscles began to
relax, and the shell to separate from the rocks, and
close in toward his body. After continuing the ope-
ration for some minutes, I observed that he had


ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO. 108
reduced himself to his natural size, and had no doubt
forgotten to keep a look-out with his claws. Seeing
this, I seized the tail firmly; and, giving it a sudden
jerk, swung the armadillo out between the feet of
my companion. Cudjo aimed a blow with the axe
which nearly severed its head from its body, and
killed the animal outright. It was about the size
of a rabbit, and proved to be of the eight-banded
species — reckoned more delicious eating than any
other.
"We now returned to camp with our fire-wood,
our locust-beans, and our armadillo—the last of which
objects horrified my wife, when I told her I was going
to eat it. It proved a great curiosity to the boys,
however, who amused themselves by running their
fingers all over its mottled armour. But I had
something that amused the little Mary and Luisa
still more — the delicious, honey-like pulp from the
pods of the locust-tree, which they greedily ate. The
seeds we extracted from the pulp, intending to roast
them as soon as we had kindled our fire.
"And now, my friends," continued Rolfe, rising
to his feet, " since we have got to talking about this
same locust-tree, I hope you will not refuse to try a
mug of my home-brewed beer, which I made out of


104 ADVENTURE WITH AN ARMADILLO.
its beans this very day, while you. were wandering
about my grounds and through the valley. It is,
perhaps, not equal to Barclay and Perkins'; but I
flatter myself that, under the circumstances, you will
not find it unpalatable."
Saying this, our host brought forward a large fla-
gon, and pouring into our cups a brown-coloured
liquid, set them before us. We all drank of the
"locust beer," which was not unlike mead or new
cider, and to prove that we liked it, we drank again
and again.
As soon as this ceremony was over, Rolfe went on
with his narration.


A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
105
CHAPTER XI.
A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
"We were all soon engaged in different occupations.
Mary was preparing the dried meat, which she in-
tended to boil along with the locust beans in our tin
pot. Fortunately, it was a large one, and held nearly
a gallon. Cudjo was busy kindling the fire, which
already sent up its volumes of blue smoke. Frank,
Harry, and the little ones, were sucking away at the
natural preserves of the acacia, while I was dressing
my armadillo for the spit. In addition to this, our
horse was filling out his sides upon the rich buffalo-
grass that grew along the stream; and the dogs—
poor fellows! they were like to fare worst of all—
stood watching my operations, and snapped eagerly
at every bit that fell from my knife. In a very
short while the fire was blazing up, the beef and
beans were bubbling over it in the tin pot, and


106
A VERT LEAN BUFFALO.
the armadillo was sputtering on the spit beside them.
In another short while all things were cooked and
ready to be eaten.
"We now remembered that we had neither plates,
glasses, knives, forks, nor spoons—yes, Cudjo and I
had our hunting-knives; and, as it was no time to
be nice, with these we fished the pieces of meat and
some of the beans out of the soup-pot, and placed
them upon a clean, flat stone. For the soup itself,
we immersed the lower part of the pot into the cool
water of the stream, so that in a short time Mary
and the children could apply the edge of it to their
hps, and drink of it in turn.
"As for Cudjo and myself, we did not want any
of the soup. We were altogether for the 'substan-
tial'
"I thought, at first, I should have all the arma-
dillo to myself. Even Cudjo, who in ' ole Vaginny'
had bolted 'coons, 'possums, and various other ' var-
mints,' for a long time hung back. Seeing, however,
that I was eating with evident relish, he held out his
sable paw, and desired me to help him to a small
piece. Having once tasted it, the ice of his appetite
seemed to be all at once broken, and he kept asking
for more, and then for more, until I began to


A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
107
fear he would not leave me enough for my own
supper.
"Neither Mary nor the boys, however, would con-
sent to share with us, although I assured them, what
was positively the fact, that what I was eating was
equal in delicacy of flavour to the finest roast pig—a
dish, by the way, to which the armadillo bears a very
great resemblance.
"The sun was now setting, and we began to think
how we were to pass the night. We had left all our
blankets in the wagon, and the air was fast becoming
cold, which is always the case in the neighbourhood
of snowy mountains. This is easily explained. The
atmosphere getting cool upon the peak, where it
envelopes the snow, of course becomes heavier, and
keeps constantly descending around the base of the
mountain, and pushing up and out that air which is
warmer and lighter. In fact, there was a sensible
breeze blowing down the sides of the mountain,
caused by these natural laws, and it had already
made us chilly, after the burning heat through which
we had been travelling. Should we sleep in this
cold atmosphere—even though we kept up a fire
during the whole night—I knew that we must suffer
much.


108
A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
"The thought now entered into my mind, that I
might go back to the wagon—which was only five
miles off—and bring up our blankets. Should I go
myself, or send Cudjo, or should both of us go?
All at once the idea entered my head that one of us
might ride there, and bring back a load of other
articles, as well as the blankets. Our horse, who
had been filling himself for the last hour and a half
with good grass and water, now began to show symp-
toms of life and vigour. Animals of this kind soon
recover from fatigue, when their food and drink are
restored to them. I saw that he would be quite able
to do the journey, so I gave Cudjo directions to catch
him. There happened to be a piece of rope around
his neck, and this would serve for a bridle. I hesi-
tated for some time, whether both Cudjo and I
should leave Mary and the children; but my wife
urged us to go, telling us she would have no fear, as
long as Harry and Frank, with their rifles, remained
with her. The dogs, too, would stay. Indeed,
there was not much danger of them leaving her, while
she held in her arms the little Luisa, whom both
these animals seemed to watch over.
"Influenced by her advice, I consented to leave
her alone with the children; and giving directions


A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
109
that they should fire off one of the rifles, in case
of any alarm, I set forth with Cudjo and the
horse.
"We could see the white tilt of the wagon from
the very start; and we had no difficulty in guiding
ourselves to it.
"As we passed onward, I was reflecting whether
the wolves had not already made a meal of our poor
ox that we had left by the wagon. If not, it was
my intention to skin him, and save the meat, lean
and tough as it must be—for the animal looked more
like some dry skeleton to be preserved in a museum
than anything else. Still I saw before us no pros-
pect of a better breakfast, and I began to grow very
anxious as to whether we might find a bit of him left.
At this moment, I was startled from my reflections
by an exclamation from Cudjo, who had stopped
suddenly, and was pointing to some object directly
ahead of us. I looked forward; and saw in the dim
light something that very much resembled a large
quadruped.
"' P'raps, Massa,' whispered Cudjo, 'him be de
buffier.'
"' Perhaps it is a buffalo ; but what is to be done?
I have left my rifle. Here! take the horse, and I


110
A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
will endeavour to get near enough to kill it with my
pistols.'
"Giving Cudjo the horse, and cautioning him to
be silent, I drew the largest of my pistols, and crept
silently forward. I went upon my hands and knees,
and very slowly, so as not to give the animal an alarm.
As I got nearer, I felt sure it was a buffalo; but the
moon had not yet risen, and I could see its form
but very indistinctly. At length, I believed I had it
within range of my pistol; at least, thought I, if I go
any nearer it will make off; so I halted—still upon
my knees—and made ready to fire. As I raised my
weapon, the horse suddenly neighed; and, in answer
to his neigh, the strange animal uttered a loud roar,
which I knew to be nothing else than the bellowing
of an ox! And so it proved, as it was neither more
nor less than our own ox, who had left the wagon,
and was slowly making his way for the mountain.
The cool air had somewhat revived him, and instinct,
or a knowledge of the way we had gone, was guiding
him in that direction.
"I know not whether I was more pleased or dis-
appointed at meeting our old companion. A good
fat buffalo would have been more welcome at the
time than a famished ox; but when I reflected that


A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
Ill
he might yet help us to get out of the Desert, I felt
that we were fortunate in finding him still alive.
The horse and he put their noses together, evidently
pleased at again meeting each other; and I could
not help thinking, as the ox shook his long tail, that
the horse must have told him of the nice grass and
water that were so near him. The ox had his reins
upon him, and lest he might stray from the track, we
tied him to a sage-bush, so that we might take him
with us when we came back.
"We were about leaving him, when it occurred
to me, that if the ox only had a little water, he
might, along with the horse, enable us to bring the
wagon up to the mountain. What a delightful
surprise it would be to Mary, to see us return with
ox, wagon, and all;—not only the blankets, but
also our cups, pans, and cooking-pots, besides some
coffee, and other little luxuries, that were stored
away in our great chest! Ha! thought I, that
would be delightful; and I immediately communi-
cated the idea to Cudjo. My companion fully
agreed with me, and believed it quite possible and
practicable. We had brought along with us the
tin-pot, full of cool water from the stream; but it was


112
A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
too narrow at the mouth, and the ox could not pos-
sibly drink out of it.
"' Let us gib it, Massa Roff,' advised Cudjo, 'in
de ole hoss-bucket, once we gets 'im back to de
wagon. Ya ! ya! we gib Missa an abstonishment.'
And my light-hearted companion laughed with de-
light, at the prospect of making his mistress happy
on our return.
"Without farther parley, we unloosed the rein
from the sage-bush, and led the ox back towards
the wagon. Neither of us rode the horse, as we
knew he would have enough to do in dragging up
his share of the load.
"On reaching the wagon, we found everything as
we had left it; but several large white wolves were
prowling around, and, no doubt, it had been the sight
of them that had roused the ox, and imparted to him
the energy that had enabled him to get away from
the spot.
"We soon found the bucket; and, pouring the
water into it, set it before the ox, who drank every
drop of it, and then licked the sides and bottom of
the vessel until they were quite dry. We now
'hitched to' both animals; and, without more


A VERT LEAN BUFFALO.
113
a-do, drove off towards our little camp at the
mountain.
"We guided ourselves by the fire, which we could
see burning brightly under the dark shadow of the
cliffs. Its blaze had a cheering effect on the spirits
both of my companion and myself; and even the
horse and ox seemed to understand that it would be
the end of their journey, and pressed forward with
alacrity to reach it.
"When within about half a mile, I heard the
report of a rifle ringing among the rocks. I was
filled with alarm. Were Mary and the children
attacked by Indians ?—perhaps by some savage ani-
mal ?—perhaps by the grizzly bear?
"I did not hesitate a moment, but ran forward—
leaving Cudjo with the wagon. I drew my pistol,
and held it in readiness as I advanced, all the while
listening eagerly to catch every sound that might
come from the direction of the fire. Once or twice
I stopped for short intervals to breathe and listen;
but there were no noises from the camp! What
could be the meaning of the silence? Where were
the dogs? I knew that, had they been attacked by
a grizzly bear, or any other animal, I should have
heard their barks and worrying. But there was not
I


114
A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
a sound. Had they been killed all at once by
Indian arrows, so silent in their deadly effect'?
0 God! had my wife, and children too, fallen vic-
tims?
"Filled with painful apprehensions, I ran forward
with increased energy, determined to rush into the
midst of the enemy—whoever they might be—and
sell my life as dearly as possible.
"At length, I came within full view of the fire.
What was my astonishment, as well as joy, on
seeing my wife sitting by the blaze, with little Luisa
upon her knee, while Mary was playing upon the
ground at her feet! But where were Harry and
Frank? It was quite incomprehensible. I knew
that they would not have fired the rifle to alarm
me unnecessarily, yet there sat Mary as though no
rifle had been fired!
"' What was it, dear Mary?' I cried, running up.
'Where are the boys ?—they discharged the rifle,
did they not?'
"' They did,' she replied; 'Harry fired at some-
thing.'
"' At what?—at what?' I inquired.
"' At some animal, I know not what kind; but I
think they must have wounded it, for they all ran



Harry kills a prong-horned Antelope. P. 114.





A VERT LEAN BUFFALO.
115
out, dogs and all, after the shot, and have not yet
come back.'
"' In,what direction?' I asked hurriedly.
"Mary pointed out the direction; and, without
waiting further, I ran off into the darkness. When
about an hundred yards from the fire, I came upon
Harry, Frank, and the mastiffs, standing over some
animal which I saw was quite dead. Harry was
not a little proud of the shot he had made, and ex-
pected me to congratulate him, which of course I did;
and laying hold of the animal by one of its hind legs
—for it had no tail to lay hold of—I dragged it for-
ward to the light of the fire. It appeared to be about
the size of a sucking calf, though much more ele-
gantly shaped, for its legs were long and slender,
and its shanks not thicker than a common walking-
cane. It was of a pale red colour, whitish along the
breast and belly, but its large, languishing eyes and
slender forking horns told me at once what sort of
animal it was; it was the prong-horned antelope,—
the only species of antelope found in North America.
"Mary now related the adventure. While they
were sitting silently by the fire, and somewhat impa-
tiently awaiting our return—for the wagon had de-
layed us considerably—they saw a pair of large eyes


116
A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
glancing in the darkness like two candles, and not
many yards from where they sat. They could see
nothing but the eyes; but this of itself was sufficient
to alarm them, as they fancied it might be a wolf, or,
perhaps still worse, a hear or panther. They did
not lose presence of mind, however; and they knew
that to escape by running away would be impossible;
so both Frank and Harry took hold of their rifles—
though Harry was foremost with his. He then
aimed, as well as he could, between the two glancing
eyes, and pulled trigger. Of course the smoke
blinded them, and in the darkness they could not tell
whether the bullet had hit the animal or not; but
the dogs—who up to this time had been sleeping by
the fire—sprang to their feet, and ran out in pursuit.
They could hear them running for some distance,
and then they heard a scramble and a struggle, and
then they were silent; so they concluded—what
afterwards proved to be the case—that Harry
had wounded the animal, and that the dogs had
caught, and were worrying it. And so they were, for
as the boys got to the spot they had just killed it;
and—hungry as they were—would soon have made a
meal of it had Frank and Harry not got up in good
time to take care of that. The antelope had been


A VERY LEAN BUFFALO. 117
shot in the shoulder, and had only run for a short
distance before it fell.
"Although Harry did not boast of his prowess, I
saw that he had a triumphant look,—the more so as
this fine piece of venison would ensure us all against
hunger for three days at the least; and, considering
that only an hour before we did not know where the
next meal was to come from, it was certainly no small
matter to be proud of. I thought just then of the
surprise I had prepared for them, not only in bring-
ing up the wagon which contained all our utensils
and comforts, but in the recovery of our best ox.
"'Where is Cudjo?' asked my wife. 'Is he
bringing the blankets?'
"'Yes,' said I, knowingly, 'and a good load
besides.'
"At that moment was heard the creaking of
wheels, and the great tilt of white canvass was seen,
far out, reflecting back the blaze of the fire. Frank
leaped to his feet, and, clapping his hands with
delight, cried out,—
"' Mamma! mamma! it is the wagon!'
"Then was heard the loud voice of Cudjo in a
joyous 'Wo-ha!' and the moment after, the horse
and ox stepped up to the fire as lightly as if the pull


118
A VERT LEAN BUFFALO.
had been a mere bagatelle; and they could have
stood it an hundred miles farther without flinching.
We were not slow in relieving both of them from
their traces, and giving them a full swing at the
grass and water.
"As it was now late in the night, and we were all
very tired, from the fatigues we had undergone, we
determined to lose no time in going to rest. Mary
went to prepare a bed in the wagon,—for this was
our only tent, and a very excellent tent it was, too.
At the same time, Cudjo and I set about skinning
the antelope, so that we might have it in fine order for
our breakfast in the morning. The dogs, too, were
interested in this operation,—for they, poor brutes,
up to this time, had fared worse than any of us.
However, the head, feet, and intestines, fell to their
share; and they soon had a supper to their hearts'
content. Having finished skinning the antelope, we
tied a rope to its legs, and slung it up to the branch
of a tree, high enough to be out of the reach of
wolves, as well as our own dogs, during the night.
"Mary had by this time completed the arrange-
ments for our sleeping; and but one thing more
remained to be done before retiring to rest. That
was a duty which we never neglected when circum-


A VERY LEAN BUFFALO.
119
stances admitted of its being performed. Mary
knew this, and had brought out of the wagon the
only book which it contained—the Bible. Cudjo
turned up the pine-logs upon the fire; and seating
ourselves around the blaze, I read from the Sacred
Book those passages which were most appropriate to
our own situation,—how God had preserved Moses
and the children of Israel in the Desert Wilderness.
"Then, with clasped hands and grateful hearts,
we all knelt, and offered thanks for our own almost
miraculous deliverance.


120
THE BIGHORNS.
CHAPTER XII.
THE BIGHORNS.
"Next morning we were up by the earliest break of
day, and had the pleasure of witnessing a beautiful
phenomenon in the sunrise. The whole country to
the east, as far as we could see, was a level plain;
and the horizon, of course, resembled that of the
ocean when calm. As the great yellow globe of the
sun appeared above it, one could have fancied that
he was rising out of the earth itself, although he was
more than ninety millions of miles distant from any
part of it. It was a beautiful sky into which the sun
was slowly climbing up. It was of a pale, blue colour,
and without the smallest cloud, for on these high
table-plains in the interior of America, you may
often travel for days without seeing a cloud as big as
a kite. We were all in better spirits, for we had
rested well, and had no longer any fear of being


THE BIGHORNS.
12]
followed by the savages who had massacred our com-
panions. They would have been fools, indeed, to have
made that dreadful journey for all they could have
gotten from us. Moreover, the sight of our antelope,
with its nice yellow fat, crisped by the cold night-air,
was anything but disheartening. As Cudjo was a
dexterous butcher, I allowed him to quarter it, while
I shouldered the axe and marched off to the moun-
tain foot to procure more wood for the fire. Mary
was busy among her pots, pans, and platters, scour-
ing and washing them all in the clear stream, for the
dust of the barren plains had blown into the wagon
as we marched, and had formed a thick coating over
the vessels. Fortunately we had a good stock of
these utensils—consisting of a gridiron, a large
camp-kettle, a couple of mess-pans, a baking-dish, a
first-rate coffee-pot and mill, half-a-dozen tin-cups
and plates, with an assortment of knives, forks, and
spoons. All these things we had laid in at St. Louis,
by the advice of our Scotch friend, who knew very
well what articles were required for a journey across
the Desert.
"I was not long in getting the wood, and our fire
was soon replenished and blazing brightly. Mary
attended to the coffee, which she parched in one of


THE BIGHORNS.
123
several large stones around the chest, and upon these
we sat drinking the delicious coffee, and eating the
savoury steaks of venison.
"While we were thus pleasantly engaged, I ob-
served Cudjo suddenly rolling the whites of his
eyes upwards, at the same time exclaiming,—
"' Golly! Missa—Massa—lookee yonder!'
"The rest of us turned quickly round—for we had
been sitting with our backs to the mountain—and
looked in the direction indicated by Cudjo. There
were high cliffs fronting us, and along the face of
these, five large reddish objects were moving, so
fast, that I at first thought they were birds upon the
wing. After watching them a moment, however, I
saw that they were quadrupeds; but so nimbly did
they go, leaping from ledge to ledge, that it was im-
possible to see their limbs. They appeared to be
animals of the deer species—somewhat larger than
sheep or goats—but we could see that, in place of
antlers, each of them had a pair of huge curving
horns. As they leaped downward, from one platform
of the cliffs to another, we fancied that they whirled
about in the air, as though they were 'turning somer-
saults,' and seemed at times to come down heads
foremost!


124
THE BIGHORNS.
"There was a spur of the cliff that sloped down
to within less than a hundred yards of the place
where we sat. It ended in an abrupt precipice of
some sixty or seventy feet in height above the plain.
The animals, on reaching the level of this spur, ran
along it until they had arrived at its end. Seeing
the precipice they suddenly stopped, as if to recon-
noitre it; and we had now a full view of them, as they
stood outlined against the sky, with their graceful
limbs and great curved horns almost as large as
their bodies. We thought, of course, they could get
no farther for the precipice, and I was calculating
whether my rifle—which I had laid hold of—would
reach them at that distance. All at once, to our
astonishment, the foremost sprang out from the cliff;
and whirling through the air, lit upon his head on
the hard plain below! We could see that he came
down upon his horns, and rebounding up again to
the height of several feet, he turned a second somer-
sault, and then dropped upon his legs, and stood
still! Nothing daunted the rest followed, one after
the other in quick succession, like so many street-
tumblers, and like them — after the feat had been
performed — the animals stood for a moment, as if
waiting for applause!


THE BIGHORNS.
125
"The spot where they had dropped was not more
than fifty paces from our camp; but I was so asto-
nished at the tremendous leap, that I quite forgot
the rifle I held in my hands. The animals, too,
seemed equally astonished upon discovering us —
which they did now for the first time. The yelping
of the dogs, who rushed forward at the moment,
brought me to myself again, as it did the strangers to
a sense of their dangerous proximity; and, wheeling
suddenly, they bounded back for the mountain. I
fired after them at random; but we all supposed
without effect, as the whole five kept on to the foot
of the mountain, followed by the dogs. Presently
they commenced ascending, as though they had
wings; but we noticed that one of them hung in the
rear, and seemed to leap upward with difficulty.
Upon this one our eyes became fixed, as we now
fancied it was wounded. We were right in this. The
rest soon disappeared out of sight; but that which
lagged behind, on leaping for a high ledge, came
short in the attempt, and rolled backward down the
face of the mountain. The next moment we saw
him struggling between the mastiffs.
"Cudjo, Frank, and Harry, ran together up the
steep, and soon returned, bringing the animal along


THE BIGHORNS. 127
Not much, thought we; for although there might be
a few more antelopes and a few more 'bighorns'
about the place, there could not be many with so
little appearance of anything for them to feed on.
Moreover, we might not find it so easy to kill any
more of them,—for those we had already shot seemed
to have fallen in our way by chance, or—as we more
properly believed at the time and still believe—by the
guiding of a Providential hand. But we knew it was
not right or wise to rely altogether on this,—that is,
we knew it was our duty, while trusting in its guid-
ance, at the same time to make every effort which lay
in our own power to save ourselves. When our pre-
sent supply should be exhausted, where was the next
to come from? We could not always live upon arma-
dilloes, and argalis, and antelopes,— even supposing
they were as plenty as the rocks. But the chances
were ten to one we should get no more of them. Our
ox in a week would have improved in condition. He
would sustain us for a time; and then—our horse—
and then—and then—the dogs—and then—we should
starve to a certainty.
"Any of these necessities was sufficiently fearful to
contemplate. Should we kill our ox, we would be un-
able to take the wagon along, and how could the horse


128
THE BIGHORNS.
carry us all out of the desert? If we then killed the
horse, we should be still worse off, and utterly help-
less on foot. No man can cross the Great Desert on
foot—not even the hunters—and how could we do it?
To remain where we were would be impossible.
There were a few patches of vegetation on the dif-
ferent runlets that filtered away from the mountain
foot. There were clumps of willows growing along
these, but not enough of grass to support any stock
of game upon which we could live, even were we
certain of being able to capture it. It was evident,
then, to us all, that we should have to get away from
that place as speedily as possible.
"The next point to be determined was, whether
the Desert extended away to the south, as we already
knew that it did to the north. To ascertain this, I
resolved to go around the mountain, leaving the
rest at the camp until my return.
"Our horse was now rested, and well fed; and
having saddled him and shouldered my rifle, I
mounted and rode off. I kept around the mountain
foot, going by the eastern end. I crossed several
rivulets resembling the one on which we had en-
camped, and noticed that all these turned off toward
the eastward, making their way to a main stream. In


THE BIGHORNS.
129
this direction, too, I saw a few stunted trees, with
here and there an appearance of greenness on the
surface. On the way I saw an antelope, and another
animal resembling a deer, but differing from all the
deer I had ever seen, in having a long toil like a cow.
I knew not at the time what sort of an animal it was,
as I had never met with any description of it in
books of natural history.
"After riding about five miles, I had fairly got
round to the east side of the mountain, and could
view the country away to the south. As far as my
sight could reach, I saw nothing but an opon plain—
if possible more sterile in its character than that which
stretched northward. The only direction in which
there were any signs of fertility was to the east, and
that was but in patches of scanty vegetation.
"It was a cheerless prospect. We should now
certainly have a desert to cross before we could get
to any inhabited country. To strike eastwardly
again, for the American frontier—circumstanced as we
were without provisions and with worn-out cattle—
would be madness; as the distance was at least eight
hundred miles. Besides, I knew there were many
hostile tribes of Indians living on that route, so that ,
even should the country prove fertile, we could never


130
THE BIGHORN8.
hope to get through it. To go northward or south-
ward would he equally impossible, as there was no
civilized settlement for a thousand miles in either
direction. Our only hope, then, would be, to attempt
crossing the Desert westwardly to the Mexican set-
tlements on the Del Norte,— a distance of nearly
two hundred miles! To do this, we should need first
to rest our ill-matched team for several days. We
should also require provisions enough for the route,
and how were these to be obtained? Again, thought
I, we must trust to Providence, who has already so
manifestly extended a helping hand to us.
"I observed that the mountain on the southern
face descended with an easier slope toward the plain
than upon the north, where it is bold and precipitous.
From this I concluded that a greater quantity of
snow must be melted, and run off in that direction.
Doubtless then, thought I, there will be a greater
amount of fertility on that side, and I continued to
ride on, until I came in sight of the grove of willows
and cotton-trees, which line the stream above the
valley here. I soon reached them, and saw that
there was a stream with considerable pasturage near
its borders—much more than where we had en-
camped. I tied my horse to a tree, and climbed


THE BIGHORNS.
131
some distance up the mountain in order to get a
view of the country south and west. I had not got
to a great height when I caught sight of the sin-
gular chasm that seemed to open up in the plain. I
was attracted with this peculiarity, and determined
to examine it. Descending again to where I had
left my horse, I mounted, and rode straight for it.
In a short time I stood upon the brink of the preci-
pice, and looked down into this smiling valley.
"I cannot describe my sensations at that moment.
Only they, whose eyes have been bent for days on the
sterile wilderness, can feel the full effect produced
by a scene of fertility such as there presented itself.
It was late in the autumn, and the woods that lay
below me—clad in all the variegated livery of that
season—looked like some richly-coloured picture.
The music of birds ascended from the groves below,
wafted upward upon the perfumed and aromatic air;
and the whole scene appeared more like a fabled
Elysium than a reality of Nature. I could hardly
satisfy myself that I was not dreaming, or looking
upon some fantastic hallucination of the mirage.
"I stood for many minutes in a sort of trance,
gazing down into the lovely valley. I could observe
no signs of human habitation. No smoke rose over the


132
THE BIGHORNS.
trees, and no noises issued forth, except the voices of
Nature, uttered in the songs of birds and the hum of
falling waters. It seemed as though man had never
desecrated this isolated paradise by his presence and
passions.
"I say I stood for many minutes gazing and list-
ening. I could have remained for hours; but the
sinking sun admonished me to hasten away. I was
nearly twenty miles from our camp, and my horse
was neither strong nor fresh. Determined, therefore,
to return on the morrow, bringing with me my com-
panions and all that belonged to us, I turned my
horse's head and rode back. It was late in the night
—near midnight—when I reached camp. I found
everything as I had left it, except that Mary was in
great anxiety about what had delayed me so long.
But my return, and the discovery which I communi-
cated, soon restored her spirits; and we laid out our
plans for changing our camp to the valley, deter-
mined to set forth at an early hour in the morning.


THE GREAT ELK.
133
CHAPTER XIII.
THE GREAT ELK.
"We were stirring by sunrise next morning, and
having breakfasted heartily, we packed our wagon
and started away from our camp, which we had
named 'Camp Antelope.' The stream we called
'Bighorn Creek' ever afterwards. We arrived at
the upper end of the valley about an hour be-
fore sunset. Here we passed the night. Next
day I started out to find some path by which we
might get down into the bottom. I rode for miles
along the edge of the bluff, but to my surprise I
found that on both sides ran a steep precipice, and I
began to fear that the tempting paradise was inac-
cessible, and had only been created to tantalize us.
At length I reached the lower end, where, as you
have noticed, the precipice is much less elevated—
on account of the sloping of the upper plain. Here
I came upon a path winding gradually down, upon
which I saw the foot-marks of animals of various
kinds. This was exactly what I wanted.


134
THE GREAT ELK,
"In this valley we could remain until our cattle
were sufficiently recruited to face the Desert, while
with our rifles we should be able to procure a sufficient
stock of provisions for the journey,
"I started back for the wagon; but as I had con-
sumed most of the day in my explorations, it was
late when I reached it; and we remained another
night at our camp on the stream, which we named
the ' Willow Camp.'
"Next morning, we started early. On arriving
at the point where the path led down, we halted the
wagon. Mary and the children remained with it,
while Cudjo and I descended into the valley to
reconnoitre. The woods were quite thick, the trees
apparently all bound together by huge vines, that
stretched from one to the other like immense ser-
pents. There was a thick undergrowth of cane;
but we saw that a trail had been made through this
by the passage of numerous animals. There were
no human foot-marks to be seen, nor any signs that
a human being had ever been upon the spot.
"We followed the trail that led us directly to the
banks of the stream. It was then very shallow, and
a great part of its shingly bed was dry. I saw that
this would afford a good road for our wagon, and we


THE GREAT ELK.
135
kept on up the channel. About three miles from
the lower end of the valley, we came to a place where
the wooda were more open, and less choked up with
underwood. On the right bank of the stream there
was a rising ground, forming a clear space of large
extent, with only a tree growing here and there.
This ground sloped gently down to the stream, and
was covered with beautiful herbage—both grass and
flowers. It was a lovely spot; and as we came sud-
denly out upon it, several animals, frightened by our
approach, bounded off into the thickets beyond.
We stopped for a moment to gaze upon the bright
picture. Birds of brilliant wing were fluttering
among the many-coloured leaves, singing or scream-
ing, and chasing each other from tree to tree. There
were parrots, and paroquets, and orioles, and blue
jays, and beautiful loxias, both of the scarlet and
azure-coloured species. There were butterflies, too,
with broad wings mottled all over with the most
vivid tints, flapping about from flower to flower.
Many of these were as large as some of the birds,
and far larger than others, for we saw flocks of tiny
humming-birds, not bigger than bees, shooting about
like sparkling gems, and balancing themselves over
the cups of the open flowers.


136
THE GBEAT ELK.
"It was a beautiful scene, indeed; and Cudjo
and I at once agreed that that was the very place to
pitch our camp. At the time, we meant it only for
a camp—a spot where we might remain until our
animals had recruited their strength, and we had
collected from the forests around provision enough for
the Desert journey. A temporary camp, indeed!
That, gentlemen, is ten years ago, and here we are
upon the same spot at this moment! Yes, my
friends, this house stands in the middle of that very
glade I have been describing. You will be surprised,
when I tell you, there was no lake then, nor the
appearance of one. That came afterwards, as you
shall hear.
"What the lake now is was then part of the glade;
and its surface, like the rest, was covered with beauti-
ful vegetation, with, here and there, trees standing
alone, and in small clumps, which gave it a most park-
like appearance. In fact, we could not help fancying,
that there was some splendid mansion in the back-
ground, to which it belonged—although we saw that
the thick, dark woods surrounded it on all sides.
"We did not remain longer than was necessary to
examine the ground. We knew that Mary would be
anxiously looking for us, so we hastened back to our


THE GREAT ELK.
137
wagon. In less than three hours from that time,
the wagon, with its snow-white tilt, stood in the
centre of the glade, and the ox and horse, loosed
from their labour, were eagerly browsing over the
rich pasture. The children were playing on the green
sward, under the shadow of a spreading magnolia,
while Mary, Cudjo, the boys, and myself, were engaged
in various occupations about the ground. The birds
flew around us, chattering and screaming, to the
great delight of our little ones. They came quite
close to our encampment, perching upon the nearest
trees, and wondering, no doubt, what strange crea-
tures we were, who had thus intruded upon their
hitherto untenanted domain. I was glad to see them
thus curious about us, as I argued from this that the
sight of man was new to them, and, therefore, we
should be in no danger of meeting with any of our
own kind in the valley. It is strange, that, of all
others, man was the animal we most dreaded to
meet! Yet, such was the case; for we knew that
any human beings we might fall in with in such a
place would be Indians, and, in all probability, would
prove our most cruel enemies.
"It was still early in the afternoon, and we deter-
mined to do nothing for the remainder of that day


138
THE GREAT ELK.
but rest ourselves, as we had all experienced consi-
derable fatigue in getting our wagon up the stream.
Kocks had to be removed, and occasionally a way
hewed through the thick branches. But the diffi-
culty being now over, we felt as though we had
reached a home, and we set about enjoying it.
Cudjo built a fire, and erected a crane over it, upon
which to hang our pots and kettles. The crane con-
sisted of two forked sticks driven in to the ground,
one on each side of the fire, with a long pole placed
horizontally, and resting upon the forks. This
is the usual manner of making the crane among
backwoods' travellers, who cook their meals in the
open air. The tripod crane, used by gipsies in
Europe, is rarely to be seen among the wanderers of
the American wilderness.
"In a short time, our camp-kettle, filled with pure
water, was boiling and bubbling to receive the aro-
matic coffee; and the remainder of the antelope,
suspended over the fire, was roasting and sputtering
in the blaze. Mary had set out the great chest,
covered with a clean white cloth—for she had washed
it the day before; and upon this our tin plates and
cups—scoured until they were shining like silver—
were regularly arranged. When all these little pre-


THE GREAT ELK.
139
parations had been made, we seated ourselves around
the fire, and watched the dainty venison as it became
browned and crisped in the blaze. Cudjo had sus-
pended the joint by a piece of strong cord, so that,
by simply whirling it around, it would then continue
for some time turning itself, as well as if it had been
upon a patent jack-spit. We were congratulating
ourselves on the fine supper we were likely soon
to partake of, when, all at once, our attention was
directed to a noise that came out of the woods, near
the border of the open ground. There was a rustling
of leaves, with a cracking sound as of dead sticks,
broken by the hoofs of some heavy animal. All our
eyes were immediately turned in that direction.
Presently we saw the leaves in motion, and the next
moment three large animals stepped out into the
glade, apparently with the intention of crossing it.
"At first sight we thought they were deer, for
each of them carried a pair of branching antlers, but
their great size at once distinguished them from any
of the deer species we had ever seen. Any one of
them was as large as a Flemish horse, and their
huge antlers rising several feet above their heads,
gave them the appearance of being still much larger.
On seeing the branched and towering horns, we took


140
THE GREAT ELK.
them for deer,—and in fact they were so; but far dif-
fering from either the red or fallow deer that are to
he met with in parks and forests. They were elk—
the great elk of the Rocky Mountains.
"On coming out of the timber, they marched for-
ward, one after the other, with a proud step, that
showed the confidence they placed in their great size
and strength—as well as in the pointed weapons
which they carried upon their heads, and which they
can use upon an enemy with terrible effect. Their
appearance was extremely majestic; and we all ad-
mired them in silence as they approached, for they
came directly towards our camp.
"At length they caught sight of our wagon and
fire, —neither of which objects, up to this time, they
had seen. All at once they halted, tossed up their
heads, snorted, and then continued for some mo-
ments to gaze at us with an expression of wonder.
"' They will be off now,' I muttered in an under-
tone to my wife and Cudjo. 'No doubt they will
be off in a moment, and they are entirely out of
reach of my rifle.'
"I had caught hold of the gun on first seeing
them, and held it in readiness across my knees.
Harry and Frank had also seized their small pieces.


THE GREAT ELK.
Ill
"' What pity, Massa Koff,' said Cudjo, 'de big
rifle no reach 'em! Golly! de be ebery one fat as
Vaginny 'possum!'
"I was thinking whether I might not creep a little
closer to them, when, to our surprise, the animals,
instead of starting off into the woods again, came
several paces nearer, and again halted, tossing up
their heads with a snort similar to that which they
had uttered before. I say that this astonished all of
us, for we had heard that the elk was an exceedingly
shy animal. So, too, they are, of any danger to
which they are accustomed; but, like most of the
deer and antelope tribe, their curiosity is greater
than their fear, and they will approach any object
which may be new to them, and examine it minutely,
before running off. I saw that curiosity had brought
them so much closer to us; and, thinking they
might advance still nearer, I cautioned my compa-
nions to remain silent, and without making any stir.
"The wagon, with its great white tilt, appeared to
be the main attraction to our strange visitors; and,
after eyeing it a moment with looks of wonder, they
again moved several paces forward, and stopped as
before. A third time they advanced towards it, and
again made halt


142
THE GREAT ELK.
"As the wagon was at some distance from where
we were sitting by the fire, their movements towards
it brought their great sides somewhat into our view.
Their last advance, moreover, had brought the leader
within range of my rifle. He was much the largest
of the three, and I determined to wait no longer, but
let him have it; so, levelling my piece at the place
which I supposed lay nearest to his heart, I pulled
trigger.
"' Missed him!' thought I, as the three great
animals wheeled in their tracks, and went away like
lightning. What was strange to us, they did not
gallop, as most deer do, but went off in a sort of
shambling trot, like a ' pacing' horse, and quite as
fast as a horse could gallop.
"The dogs — which, up to this time, Cudjo had
been holding by their necks — dashed after with
yelps and barking. They were all — both elk and
dogs — soon lost to our eyes; but for some time we
could hear the elk breaking through the thick cane
and bushes, with the dogs yelling in close pursuit.
"I thought there would be no chance of the mas-
tiffs coming up with them, and was, therefore, not
intending to follow; when, all at once, I heard the
voices of the dogs change from yelping to that of a


THE GREAT ELK.
143
worrying sound, as though they were engaged in a
fierce conflict with one another.
"' Perhaps I have wounded the animal, and they
have overtaken it,' said I. 'Come, Cudjo! let us
after and see. Boys, remain to take care of your
mother.'
"I laid hold of Harry's rifle, and followed by
Cudjo, ran across the glade in the track which both
elk and dogs had taken. As we entered the bushes,
I saw that their leaves were sprinkled with blood.
"' No doubt,' said I, 'he is wounded, and badly,
too. We shall have him yet.'
"' Dat we shall, Massa!' cried Cudjo; and we ran
on as fast as we could through the thick cane-brake,
in the track made by the animals. I ran ahead of
my companion, as Cudjo was rather slow of foot.
Every here and there I saw gouts of blood on the
leaves and cane, and guided by the hoarse voices of
the mastiffs, I soon reached the spot where they
were. Sure enough the wounded elk was there,
down upon his knees, and defending himself with
his antlers; while one of the dogs lay sprawling on
the ground and howling with pain. The other still
kept up the fight, endeavouring to seize the elk from
behind; but the latter spun round, as though his


144
THE GREAT ELK.
knees were upon a pivot, and always presented his
horny spikes in the direction of the attack.
"I was afraid the elk might get a blow at one of
our brave dogs, and put an end to him, so I fired
hastily; and, regardless of consequences, ran forward to
finish him with the butt of the rifle. I struck with
all my might, aiming directly for his head, but in my
hurry I missed him; and, carried forward with the
force which I had thrown into the blow, I fell right
into the midst of his branching antlers! I dropped
my rifle, and seized hold of the points, with the inten-
tion of extricating myself; but before I could do so, the
elk had risen to his feet, and with a powerful jerk of
his head tossed me high into the air. I came down
upon a thick network of vines and branches; and,
my presence of mind still remaining, I clutched
them as I fell, and held on. It was well that I did
so, for directly under me the infuriated animal was
bounding from point to point, evidently in search of
me and wondering where I had gone. Had I fallen
back to the earth, instead of clinging to the branches,
he would no doubt have crushed me to pieces with
his fearful horns.
"For some moments I lay quite helpless where I
had been flung, watching what was passing below.


TH1 HEW Y■J*fc
PUBLIC LIBRARY



Tlio Wounded Elk at Bay.


THE GREAT ELK.
145
The mastiff still continued his attack, but was evi-
dently cowed by the fate of his companion, and only
snapped at the elk when he could get round to his
flanks. The other dog lay among the weeds howl-
ing piteously.
"At this moment Cudjo appeared in sight, for I
had headed him some distance in my haste. I could
see the whites of his great eyes turned up in wonder-
ment when he perceived the rifle lying upon the
ground without seeing me. I had barely time to
utter a shout of warning, when the elk spied him;
and lowering his head, rushed upon him with a loud
and furious snort.
"I was filled with fear for my faithful follower and
friend. I saw that he carried a large Indian spear
—which he had found at the camp where our com-
panions had been massacred —but I had no hope of
his being able to ward off the impetuous attack. I
saw that he did not even point the weapon to receive
the enraged animal, but stood like a statue. 'He is
paralyzed with terror,'thought I; and I expected the
next moment to see him impaled upon the sharp
antlers and gored to death. But I had very much
mistaken my man Cudjo. When the horns were
within two feet of his breast, he stepped nimbly
L


146
THE GREAT ELK.
behind a tree, and the elk passed hirn with a rush.
So quick had been the action, that for a moment I
thought he had gone under, but, to my agreeable
surprise, the next moment I saw him start out from
the tree, and, making a lounge with the spear, bury
it among the ribs of the animal! No matador in all
Spain could have performed the feat more cleverly.
"I shouted with delight as I saw the huge body
rolling to the earth; and, dropping down from my
perch, I ran toward the spot. On reaching it, I
found the elk panting in the throes of death, while
Cudjo 6tood over his body safe and triumphant.
"' Bravo!' cried I, 'my brave Cudjo, you have
ended him in earnest!'
"'Yes, Massa,' replied Cudjo, coolly, though evi-
dently with some slight symptoms of triumph in his
manner; 'yes, Massa Roff, dis black niggur hab gin
de gemman a settler under de rib number five. He
butt de breath out of poor Cassy no more—poor ole
Cassy!' and Cudjo commenced caressing the dog
Castor, which was the one that had suffered most from
the horns of the elk.
"We were now joined by Harry, who, hearing the
struggle, could remain no longer in the camp. For-
tunately we found his rifle quite safe; and Cudjo


THE GREAT ELK.
147
drawing his knife, let the blood out of the animal in
a scientific manner. From its great weight—not
less than a thousand pounds—we saw that we could
not take the whole carcass to camp without yoking
either the horse or ox to it, so we resolved to skin
and quarter it where it lay. After going hack for
the necessary implements, as well as to announce
our success, we returned again, and soon finished
the operation. Before the sun had set, nearly a
thousand pounds of fresh elk-meat were dangling
from the trees around our little encampment. We
had purposely delayed eating until our work should
be done; and while Cudjo and I were engaged in
hanging up the huge quarters, Mary had been busy
with the gridiron, and an elk rump-steak — quite
equal to the best beef—added to the excellence of
qut supper.


148
ADVENTURE WITH THE CARCAJOU.
CHAPTER XIV.
ADVENTURE WITH THE CARCAJOU.
"We arose early next morning, and having eaten a
hearty breakfast of elk-steaks and coffee, began to
consider what was the next thing to be done. We
had now quite enough of meat to carry us to the end
of the longest journey, and it only remained to be
cured, so that it would keep on the way. But how
were we to cure it, when we had not a particle of
salt? Here was a difficulty which for a moment
looked us in the face. Only for a moment, for I
soon recollected that there was a way of preserving
meat without salt, which has always been much in
use among Spanish people, and in countries where
salt is very scarce and dear. I had heard, too, that
this method was much practised among the trappers
and hunters when laying up a stock of buffalo flesh,
or of any other animals they might chance to kill.


ADVENTURE WITH THE CARCAJOU. 149
It is called 'jerking,' and the meat when thus pre-
pared goes by the name of 'jerked meat.' By the
Spaniards it is called ' tasajo.'
"I remembered having read an account of the pro-
cess; and, after instructing Cudjo in it, we imme-
diately set about 'jerking' the elk. We first built
a large fire, upon which we placed a great many
sticks of green wood fresh cut from the tree. This
was done so that the firo might burn slowly, and
throw out a great volume of smoke. We then stuck
several stakes into the ground around the fire, and
stretched lines from one to the other. This being
done, we took down the quarters of the elk and re-
moved the meat from the bones— cutting it off in thin
strips, each of them over a yard in length. These
strips we hung over the lines already prepared, so
that they might be exposed to the smoke and heat
of the fire, although not so much as to cause them
to be broiled. The whole process was now ended—
excepting that it would be necessary for us to look
occasionally to the fire, as well as to see that the
dogs and wolves did not leap up and snap off the
meat, that hung down from the lines like so many
strings of sausages. In about three days the flesh
of the elk would be 'jerked,' and capable of being


150 ADVENTURE WITH THE CARCAJOU.
carried to any distance without the danger of
spoiling.
"During these three days we all remained very
much in the neighbourhood of our camp. We might
have procured more game had we gone out to hunt
for it, but we did not do this for three reasons :—
First, because we had enough for our wants;
secondly, we did not wish, under the circumstances,
to waste a single charge of ammunition; and, lastly,
because we had seen the tracks of bears and pan-
thers by the stream. We did not wish to risk
meeting with any of these customers in the dark and
tangled woods, which we should have been likely
enough to do, had we gone far out in pursuit of game.
We were determined to leave them unmolested as
long as they should preserve a similar line of conduct
towards us; and, in order to prevent any of them
from intruding into our camp while we were asleep,
we kept a circle of fires burning around the wagon
throughout the night.
"During these three days, however, we were not
without fresh viands, and those, too, of the most
luxurious and delicate kinds. I had succeeded in
killing a wild turkey, which, along with several
others, had entered the glade, and run close up to


ADVENTURE WITH THE CARCAJOU. 151
our camp before they saw us. He was a large 'gob
bier '—over twenty pounds in weight—and, I need
not tell you, proved far more delicious eating than
his tame cousins of the farm-yard.
"At the end of the third day, the elk-meat was
as dry as a chip; and taking it from the lines we
packed it in small bundles, and placed it in our
wagon. We now thought of waiting only until our
animals should be fairly recruited; and as both horse
and ox were up to their eyes, from morning till
night, in rich pasturage, and began to fill out about
the flanks, we were congratulating ourselves that we
should not have to wait long.
"Of how little value are human calculations!
Just at that moment, when we were so sanguine of
being able soon to escape from our desert prison, an
event occurred, which rendered that escape altogether
impossible—for years at least, and it might be,
for ever. But I will detail the circumstance as it
happened.
"It was on the afternoon of the fourth day after we
had entered the valley. We had just finished dinner,
and were sitting near the fire watching the two child-
ren, Mary and Luisa, as they rolled in joyous inno-
cence over the smooth green sward. My wife and I


152 ADVENTURE WITH THE CARCAJOU.
were conversing about the little Luisa—about the
unfortunate end of her father and mother—both of
whom, we believed, had fallen victims in the savage
massacre. We were talking of how we should bring
her up—whether in ignorance of the melancholy
fate of her parents, and in the belief that she was
one of our own children—or whether, when she had
grown to a sufficient age to understand it, we should
reveal to her all the story of her orphanage. Our
thoughts now reverted, for the first time, to our own
wTetched prospects, for these, too, had been blighted
by the loss of our Scotch friend. We were going to
a strange land—a land where we knew no one—of
whose language, even, we were ignorant—a land, too,
whose inhabitants were neither prosperous of them-
selves, nor disposed to countenance prosperity in
others;—much less of the race to which we belonged.
We were going, too, without an object; for that
which had brought us so far was now removed by the
death of our friend. We had no property—no
money—not enough even to get us shelter for a single
night: what would become of us? They were bitter
reflections which we drew from thinking on the
future; but we did not permit them to torture us
long.


ADVENTURE WITH THE CARCAJOU. 153
"' Fear not, Robert,' said my noble wife, placing
her little hand in mine, and looking cheerfully in
my face; 'He who has guarded us through the past
is not likely to fail us in the future.'
"' Dear Mary,' I replied, roused to new life and
energy by her consoling words, 'you are right—you
are" right—in Him only let us trust.'
"At that moment a strange noise sounded in our
ears, coming from the direction of the forest. It
seemed distant at first, but every moment drew
nearer and nearer. It was like the voice of some ani-
mal 'routing' from extreme terror or pain. I looked
around for the ox. The horse was in the glade,
but his companion was not to be seen. Again the
voice came from the woods, louder and more fearful
than ever. It was plainly the bellowing of an ox;
but what could it mean? Once more it rose upon
the air, nearer and more distinct, and sounded as
though the animal was running as it cried!
"I sprang to my rifle—Frank and Harry also
seized theirs—Cudjo armed himself with the Indian
spear; and the dogs, that had started to their feet,
stood waiting a signal to rush forth.
"Once more broke out that terrible cry; and
we could now hear the sweeping of leaves, and the


THI HEW YORC
PUBLIC LIBRARY
gMMW rOUHBAT10i« K |





ADVENTURE WITH THE CARCAJOU. 155
the throat of the ox, which we could see was torn,
and dappled with crimson spots. The mouth of the
strange animal was resting upon his jugular vein.
It was tearing his flesh, and drinking his blood as
he ran!
"The ox, as he came out of the thicket, gallopped
but slowly, and routed with less energy than before.
We could perceive that he tottered as he ran, still
making for the camp. In a short time, he was in
our midst, when, uttering a long moan, he fell to the
earth with the death-rattle in his throat!
"The strange animal, roused by the shock, suddenly
let go its hold, and raised itself erect over the car-
cass. Now, for the first time, I saw what it was.
It was the fearful carcajou! Now, too, for the first
time, it seemed to be aware of our presence, and
suddenly placed itself in an attitude to spring. The
next moment it had launched its body towards Mary
and the children!
"We all three fired as it sprang forward, but our
feelings had unnerved us, and the bullets whistled
idly away. I drew my knife and rushed after; but
Cudjo was before me, and I saw the blade of his
spear glancing towards it like a flash of light, and
burying itself in the long hair. With a hoarse


156 ADVENTURE WITH THE CARCAJOU.
growl, the monster turned, and, to my joy, I saw
that it was impaled upon the spear, which had passed
through the skin of its neck. Instead of yielding,
however, it rushed up the shaft, until Cudjo was com-
pelled to drop the weapon, to save himself from
being torn by its long, fierce claws. Before it
could clear itself from the spear, I had drawn my
large pistol, and fired directly into its breast. The
shot proved mortal, and the shaggy monster rolled
over, and struggled for some minutes in the agonies
of death. We were saved; but our poor ox, that was
to have drawn us out of the Desert, lay upon the
grass a lifeless and almost bloodless carcass!


A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR A TRAIL. 157
CHAPTER XV.
A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR A TRAIL.
"Odr hopes of being able to get away from the oasis
valley were thus crushed in a moment. The horse
could not of himself draw the wagon, and how could
we travel without it? Even could we have crossed
the Desert on foot, he would hardly suffice to carry
our food and water. But for us to pass one of those
terrible stretches of wilderness—by the Spaniards
called 'jornadas'—on foot was out of the question.
Even the strongest and hardiest of the trappers often
perish in such attempts; and how should we suc-
ceed—one of us being a delicate female—and having
two children that must be carried in our arms?
The thing was plainly impossible, and as I reflected
upon it, the thoughts of its impossibility filled me
with despair.
"But were we never to escape from that lonely


158 A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR A TRAIL.
spot? What prospect was before us of ever being
able to leave it? No human beings might come to
our relief. Perhaps no human foot except our own
had ever made its track in that remote valley! This
was not at all improbable; and indeed a party of
hunters or Indians, on their journey across the
Desert, might visit the mountain without discovering
the valley,— so strangely was it hollowed out of the
plain.
"I had but little hope that any caravan or party
of traders would pass that way. The Desert that
surrounded us was a sufficient barrier against that;
besides, I knew that the mountain was far to the
southward of the trails usually followed by the prairie
traders. There was but one hope that I could cling
to with any degree of confidence: that was, that the
Desert might not stretch so far to the south or west
as it appeared to do; and by breaking up the wagon,
and making a light cart out of it, we might still be
able to cross it. I was determined, therefore, first
to go alone, and explore the route in both these di-
rections. If it should appear practicable, I could
return, and put this design into execution.
"Next morning, having loaded my horse with pro-
visions, and as much water as he could well carry, I


A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR A TRAIL. 159
took an affectionate leave of my wife and little ones;
and, commending them to the protection of God, I
mounted, and rode off toward the west. I headed in
this direction for a day and a half, and still the
waste stretched to the horizon before me. I had
made but a short journey, for the path led through
ridges and hillocks of moving sand, and my horse
sank to the knees at every step. In the afternoon
of the second day, I turned back from the attempt,
fearful that I should not be able to regain the valley.
But I succeeded at length,—both myself and horse
almost dead with thirst on arriving there.
"I found my little party all well, as I had left
them; but I had brought them no glad tidings,
and I sat down in their midst with a feeling of
despair.
"My next reconnoissance was to be to the south;
and I only waited until my jaded horse might be
sufficiently rested for the journey.
"Another day passed, and I was sitting upon a log
near the fire, reflecting upon the dark future that
lay before us. I was filled with despondency, and
took no note of what was passing around. When
I had sat in this way for some time, I felt a light
hand touching me upon the shoulder; and, looking


160 A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR A TRAIL.
up, I saw that Mary had seated herself upon the log
beside me, while a smile of cheerfulness and com-
posure was playing upon her fair features.
"I saw that she had something in her mind that
she was about to communicate to me.
"' What is it, Mary?' I asked.
"' Is not this a lovely spot?' said she, waving her
hand so as to indicate the whole scene by which we
were surrounded. My eyes, along with hers, roamed
for a moment over the fair picture, and I could not
do otherwise than answer in the affirmative. It was,
indeed, a lovely spot. The open glade, with the
golden sun streaming down upon its green herbage,
and vivid flowers — the varied tints of the forest
frondage, now dressed in the brilliant livery of au-
tumn—the cliffs beyond, contrasting with it in colour
from their lining of dark green cedars and pines—
and, higher still, the snow-white summit, as it towered
against the blue sky, sparkling under the sun, and
lending a delicious coolness to the air—all these
objects formed a panorama that was indeed lovely
to look upon. And there were sweet sounds falling
upon the ear — the murmur of distant waters — the
light rustling of leaves, stirred by a soft breeze that
blew past laden with the aromatic odours of buds and


A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR A TRAIL. 161
flowers—the music of birds that sang to each other
in the groves, or uttered their joyous calls as they
flapped their bright wings over the open glade.
"' Yes, Mary,' I replied, 'it is indeed a lovely
spot.'
"' Thet , Robert,' said she, with a look of strange
meaning, 'why should we be so anxious to leave
it?'
"' Why?' I repeated mechanically after her,
wondering at the question.
"' Yes, why?' continued my wife. 'We are in
search of a home — why not make this our home?
Where can we find a better? How know we that
in that land whither we were going, we may find
one so good — if, indeed, they give us a home at
all?'
"' But, dear Mary,' said I, 'how could you live
away from the world — you who have been brought
up in the midst of society and its refinements?'
"' The world !' replied she, ' what care we for the
world? Have we not our children with us? They
will be our world, and we can be society enough for
each other. Moreover,' continued she, 'remember
how little we have in that world,—remember how it
has used us so far. Have we been happy in it? No,
M


162 A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR A TRAIL.
I have enjoyed more happiness here than I ever did
in the midst of that society of which you speak.
Think, Robert! reflect before we rashly leave this
lovely spot—this sweet home—into which I can
almost believe the hand of God has guided us.'
"' But, Mary, you have not thought of the diffi-
culties, the hardships to which such a life may ex-
pose you.'
"' I have,' she replied. 'I have thought of all
these while you were absent. I can see no difficulty
in our procuring a subsistence here. The Creator
has bountifully stocked this singular oasis. We may
easily obtain all the necessaries of life — for its
luxuries I care but little. We can live without
them.'
"Her words produced a strange effect upon me.
Up to that moment the idea of remaining in the
oasis had never entered my mind. I had only occu-
pied myself with speculating on the means by which
we could escape from it. Now, however, a sudden
change came over my thoughts; and I began to
think seriously of following the counsel of my self-
sacrificing companion. The harsh treatment we had
received at the hands of civilized man — buffeted
about by ill fortune — continually deceived, and at


A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR A TRAIL. 163
every step becoming poorer and more dependent, all
had their effect in blunting that desire I should
otherwise have felt to get back to the world. I was
not averse then to the idea, but rather ready to fall
at once into the plan.
"I remained silent for a length of time, casting
over in my mind the possibility of our carrying out
such a scheme—the chances of our being able to
procure subsistence. It was evident there was plenty
of game in the valley. We had occasionally seen
deer of different species, and we had also discovered
the tracks of other animals. There were pheasants
and turkeys, too, in abundance. We had our rifles,
and by good fortune a large stock of ammunition—for,
besides my own, Harry and Frank had powder-horns
containing nearly a pound each. But this in time
would be expended—what then? Oh, what then?
Before that I should find out some other mode of
capturing our game. Besides, the valley might con-
tain many other things intended to sustain life—
roots and fruits. We had already found some indi-
cations of this; and Mary, who was an accomplished
botanist, could tell the uses of them all. We should
find both food and water. What more could we ask
from the hand of Nature?


164 A FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR A TRAIL.
"As I ran these thoughts through my mind, the
project became every moment more feasible. In fact,
I grew quite as enthusiastic about it as my wife.
"Cudjo, Frank, and Harry, were brought into our
council, and they, too, received the idea with delight.
The faithful Cudjo was contented, as he alleged,
with any lot, so long as he might share it with us.
As for the boys they were in raptures with the
thought of such a free wild life.
"We did not fully resolve upon anything for that
day. We were determined not to act rashly, but to
reflect seriously upon it, and to renew our delibera-
tions on the following morning.
"During that night, however, a circumstance oc-
curred, which at once fixed my resolution to remain
in the valley — at least until some unforeseen chance
might enable us to leave it with a better prospect of
safety.


THE MYSTERIOUS FLOOD.
165
CHAPTER XVI.
THE MYSTERIOUS FLOOD.
"Well, my friends, I shall now detail to you the
strange incident, which at once decided me to
adopt the suggestion of my wife, and make our
home in the valley. Perhaps we did not, at the
time, contemplate staying here for the remainder of
our lives—but only for a few years. However, we
resolved to remain for the present, and give our
lonely life a fair trial, leaving the future an open
question.
"The reason why I had hesitated at all upon the
subject was this :—I could not think of settling
down with no prospect of improving our condition;
for, however much we might exercise our industry, its
products could not enrich us beyond the satisfying of
our own wants. We should have no market, thought
I, for any superfluous produce, even could we culti-


166
TI"-3 MYSTERIOUS FLOOD.
vate the whole valley. We could, therefore, hecome
no richer, and would never he in any fitter state to
return to civilized society — for, in spite of all, a
thought of this still remained in my mind.
"Mary, who was of a far more contented disposi-
tion than I, still persisted in arguing that as our
happiness did not depend upon possessing riches, we
would never desire to leave that lovely spot, and
that, consequently, we should stand in no need of
wealth.
"Perhaps hers was the true philosophy—at all
events, it was the natural one. But the artificial
wants of society implant within us the desire of
accumulating individual property; and I could not
rid myself of this provident feeling. 'If we could
only find some object,' said I, ' upon which we might
he exercising our industry, so that our time should
not be wasted, and by which we might prepare our-
selves for returning to society, then for a time might
we live most happily here.'
"'Who knows?' said Mary, in reply to this;
'there may he objects in this valley that may occupy
us, and enable us to lay up the very store you speak
of, as well as if we were to continue on to New
Mexico. What opportunities should we have there


THE MYSTERIOUS FLOOD.
167
better than here? We have nothing now to begin
life with anywhere. Here we have food and land,
which I think we may fairly call our own; there we
should have neither. Here we have a home; and
how know you, Robert, that we may not yet make a
fortune in the Desert?'
"We both laughed at the idea; which, of course,
Mary had meant only as a jest in order to render
our prospects more cheering.
"It was now near midnight, for we had sat up to
that late hour deliberating on what we should do. As
I have said, we agreed to leave the matter undecided
until the morrow. The moon was just appearing
over the eastern cliff; and we were about rising to
retire to our resting-places, when our eyes fell upon
an object that caused us all at the same time to cry
out with astonishment.
"I have said, that when we first entered this
valley there was no lake here. Where you now see
one, was a green sward, with here and there a cop-
pice of trees, forming part of the little prairie in
which we were encamped. The stream ran across
it, as it still does through the lake; but at this point
there were scarcely any banks, as the water flowed
over a wide and shallow channel. On previous


168
THE 5IYSTERIOU3 FLOOD.
nights, when the moon was shining into the valley, as
we sat around our camp fire, we had noticed the
stream winding like a silver thread through the dark
green herbage. Now, to our extreme wonder, in-
stead of the narrow line, a broad sheet of water
glistened before us! It seemed to cover a space of
several hundred yards in extent, reaching far up the
glade towards our camp. Could it be water, or was
it only the mirage—the fata morgana? No; it
was not the latter. We had witnessed this before,
on our passage across the great plains. We had
witnessed it on several occasions, and it was nothing
like what we now saw. There is a filmy, whitish
appearance about the illusions of the mirage by which
the experienced traveller can always distinguish it
from the real. But there was nothing of that in the
present instance. It was water that spread before
us,— for the moon, that had now risen above the cliff,
was plainly reflected upon its calm and glassy sur-
face. Yes; it could be nothing but a sheet of water!
"But we were determined not to trust to our eyes
alone. We all ran towards it—Cudjo, the boys, and
myself,—and in a few seconds we stood upon its
edge—upon the edge of what appeared to be a large
lake, formed as if by some magical influence!


THE MYSTERIOUS FLOOD.
169
"We had at first regarded the phenomenon only
with feelings of wonder, but our wonder was now
changed to consternation, when we perceived that the
water was still rising! It ran in about our feet
while we stood, rippling slowly against the gentle
ascent like the influx of a tide.
"' What could it mean?' we asked of each other,
with looks that betrayed our fears. Was it a flood—
an inundation—a sudden swelling of the stream?
This it plainly was, but what could have caused it?
There had been no rain for several days before, and no
great heat to have caused any unusual melting of the
snow upon the mountain. What, then, could be the
origin of this sudden and singular freshet? What
could it mean?
"We stood for some time silent, with hearts beat-
ing audibly,—each looking at the others for an
answer to this question. The solution seemed to strike
us all at the same time, and a fearful one it was.
Some terrible convulsion—the falling of the preci-
pice perhaps—had dammed the canon below; no
doubt, had blocked up the great fissure by which the
stream found its way from the valley. If such were
the case, then, the valley would soon fill with water,


170
THE MYSTERIOUS FLOOD.
not only to cover the ground occupied by our camp,
but the tops of the highest trees!
"You ■will easily conceive the terror with which
this thought was calculated to inspire us. We could
think of no other cause for the strange inundation,
nor, indeed, did we stay longer to consider of any,
but ran back to the camp, determined to escape from
the valley as soon as we could. Cudjo caught the
horse, Mary awoke the children, and brought them
out of the wagon, while the boys and I busied our-
selves in collecting a few necessary things, that we
might be enabled to carry along with us.
"Up to this time we had not thought of the diffi-
culty—much less the impossibility—of escaping from
the valley. To our horror, that now became clear as
the sun at noon-day; for we perceived that the road
by which we had entered the glade, and which lay
along the stream, was completely covered, and the
rising water reached far beyond it! There was no
other path by which we could get out. To attempt
cutting one through the thick tangled woods would
be the work of days; moreover, we remembered that
we had crossed the stream on the way to our camp,
and that, of course, would now be swollen below, so


THE MYSTERIOUS FLOOD.
171
that to re-cross it would be impossible. We had no
doubt but that the valley, at its lower end, was by
this time filled with water, and our retreat in that
direction completely cut off! We knew of no other
path!
"I cannot describe the state of mind into which
we were thrown, when these facts became evident to
one and all of us. We were about to start out from
the camp, each of us carrying our burden; but it
was plainly of no use making the attempt, and we
let fall the various utensils with a feeling of despair.
The water was still rising—the lake was growing
larger!
"The wolves howled, driven from their lair by
the encroaching element—birds, roused from their
sleep, screamed and fluttered among the trees—our
dogs barked at the strange sight—and, in the clear
moonlight, we could see deer, and other wild animals,
rushing, as if terrified, through the open glade. 0
God! were we to be engulfed, and perish in this
mysterious flood?
"What was to be done? Should we climb into
the trees? That would not save us. If the great
channel was blocked up below, I knew that that would
not save us; for its jaws were higher than the tops


172
THE MYSTERIOUS FLOOD.
of the highest trees, and the rising flood would soon
lick us from the branches. It might prolong our
lives, and with them our despair; but what—' Ha!'
The thought, heaven-directed, at this moment en-
tered my mind.
"'A raft! a raft! we shall yet be saved!'
"My companions at once understood my meaning.
Cudjo seized the axe, while Mary hastened to the
wagon to collect such ropes and cords as were in it.
I knew there would not be enough of these for our
purpose; and, spreading out the great elk-skin, I
proceeded to cut it into stripes.
"There were several logs lying close to our
camp. They were the trunks of tall straight trees,
that, from time to time, had fallen, and were now
quite dead and dry. They were the trunks of the
beautiful liriodendron, or tulip-tree, out of which the
Indians always make their canoes, when they can get
them of sufficient size. This, because their wood is
extremely soft and light—weighing only twenty-six
pounds to the cubic foot. While busy myself, I
directed Cudjo to cut a number of these logs into
equal lengths. Cudjo knew how to handle an axe
with any other man, and the logs were soon of the
proper dimensions. We now rolled them together,


THE MYSTERIOUS FLOOD.
173
and, by the aid of our ropes and cross pieces, lashed
them firmly to one another; and our raft was com-
pleted. Upon this, we placed our great chest, con-
taining the jerked meat, with our blankets, and such
utensils as were necessary to be saved. We laid
in no stock of water for the expected voyage—we
had no fear about our having enough of that.
"We had been occupied nearly two hours in con-
structing the raft; but during all this time we had
been so busy, that we had hardly looked in the direc-
tion of the flood—only to see that it still continued
to rise. As soon as our arrangements were com-
pleted, I ran down to the water's edge. After
watching it for a few minutes, to my great joy I per-
ceived that the flood was at a stand! I shouted the
glad news to my companions, who, on hearing it,
hastened to join me, and assure themselves by
actual observation. For half-an-hour, we all stood
upon the shore of the new-formed lake, until we
became convinced that its waters were rising no
higher. We saw, too, that they did not subside, but
remained stationary. 'It has reached the top of
whatever has dammed it,' thought we, 'and is now
flowing over.'
"' What a pity, Massa Koff,' said Cudjo, as we


174 THE MYSTERIOUS FLOOD.
wended our way back to the camp; 'what a pity we
make dat fine ran0 for nuffin!'
"' Ah, Cudjo,' rejoined my wife, ' we should never
regret having performed that which is a work of pre-
caution; and we must remember that the raft —
although it may not be required as we intended it—
has already far more than repaid us for the labour
bestowed upon it. Remember the misery we were
suffering but a short time since, and from which the
idea of this raft at once relieved us. Measures
of precaution, however irksome, should always be
adopted. It is only the slothful and vacillating who
either neglect or regret them.'
"' Dat's true, Missa—dat's berry true,' said Cudjo,
in a serious tone, for he well knew how to appreciate
the teachings of his noble mistress.
"It was now very late, or rather very early, and
Mary, with the children, returned to their usual
resting-place in the wagon. Gudjo and I, fear-
ing to trust to the capricious water, determined—
lest it might take another turn, and 'catch us nap-
ping '—to keep watch on it till the morning.


THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE.
175
CHAPTER XVII.
THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE.
"When daylight came, the mysterious flood was still
standing at its full height. I call it mysterious, for
as yet we knew nothing of what had so suddenly
created it. We could think of no other cause than
the falling in of the precipice below. I had deter-
mined, as soon as the day fairly broke, to make
my way through the woods, and remove all doubt
—for we still felt some uneasiness in regard to this
strange phenomenon.
"Leaving Cudjo with his long spear, and the boys
with their rifles, to guard the camp, I set forth alone.
I took with me my gun, as well as a small hatchet
■which we had, to clear away a track through the
brushwood.
"I struck at once into the woods, and guiding
myself by an occasional glimpse of the sun that had


176 THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE.
now risen, I kept on in a south-easterly course. It
was my intention to get out on the edge of the flood
some distance below, when I could then skirt around
it. After cutting my way through the brambles to
the distance of nearly a mile, I came suddenly out
upon the bank of the rivulet; and guess my surprise,
on seeing that the stream was not only not swollen,
but there was even less water than usual running in
its channel! I noticed, however, that the water was
muddy, and that green leaves and fresh broken twigs
were floating down upon its current.
"Of course, I now turned my face up-stream, know-
ing that the dam must be in that direction; but, for
my life, I could not imagine how any accident of
Nature could have stopped up the channel above.
The falling of trees could not possibly have pro-
duced such an effect; and there were no high bluffs
abutting on the rivulet, that could have fallen into
its bed. I began to believe that human hands had
been at work; and I looked for the prints of human
feet. I saw none, but the tracks of animals were
numerous. Thousands of them, at least—great
broad feet, webbed like those of a duck, but with
sharp claws—were impressed in the sand and mud,
all along the banks of the stream.


THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE. 177
"I moved forward very cautiously; for, although I
could not discover their tracks, I was still fearful
that Indians, and of course enemies, were near. At
length, I reached a hend in the stream, above which
I remembered that the channel was narrower, and
ran between banks of a considerable height. I
remembered this well—for, on first entering the valley,
we had been obliged at this place to draw the wagon
out of the bed of the rivulet, and cut a way for it
through the adjacent woods. No doubt, then, I
would there find the obstacle that had so myste-
riously intercepted the current.
"On reaching this bend, I climbed out upon the
bank; and, stealing silently through the underwood,
I peeped through the leaves. A most singular scene
was before me.
"The stream, as I had rightly conjectured, was
dammed up, at the point where the channel was nar-
rowest, but not by any accident. The work bore
the marks of design, as much as if it had been con-
structed by human hands. A tall tree had been
felled across the stream—so that the place where it
had been cut through was not detached from the
stump, but still held fast by its crushed fibres. On
the other side its top branches were buried under
N


178 THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE.
rocks and mud, so as to render them secure. Against
this tree upright stakes rested; and these again were
wattled together, and firmly hedded in rocks that
had been collected around their lower ends. Behind
these uprights were piled other stakes and branches
laid crosswise, and bound together with layers of
rocks and mud—so that the whole structure formed
a wall of full six feet in thickness—broad along the
top, and sloping off toward the water. On the lower
side it stood nearly perpendicular, as the uprights
were thus set. The top of this was plastered with
mud, and at both sides was left a narrow sluice, or
wash, through which the water ran smoothly off,
without wearing away the breastwork.
"I have said that the work bore the marks of
design, as much as if it had been constructed by
human hands. But it was not. The builders of
that breastwork were before my eyes, and apparently
just resting from their labours.
"There were about an hundred of them in all,
squatting over the ground, and along the parapet of
the new-made dam. They were of a dark brown—
or rather a chestnut colour — and reminded me
of so many gigantic rats, except that their tails were
not elongated and tapering like these. Their backs,


THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE. 179
however, were arched, and their bodies of a thick
rounded shape, similar to animals of the rat kind.
Moreover, I could perceive that they were armed
with the cutting teeth, which distinguish the family
of the rodentia, or 'gnawers.' These teeth I could
see distinctly, as some of the animals were using
them at the time, and they even protruded when
their mouths were shut. I noticed that there was a
pair of them in each jaw, broad, strong, and shaped
like chisels. The ears of the animals were short,
and almost buried in the hair, which although long
was not shaggy, but presented a smooth appearance
over all parts of their bodies. There was a tuft of
stiff bristles growing out on each side of the nose,
like the whiskers of a cat; and their eyes were
small, and set high up, like those of the otter. Their
fore limbs were shorter than the hind ones, and both
had feet with five claws, but the hind feet were
broad and large, and completely webbed between the
toes. It was they, then, that had made the tracks
I had observed in coming up the stream. But the
most striking feature of these animals was the tail.
This appendage was entirely without hair, of a dark
colour, and looking as though it was covered with
the well-known substance shagreen. It was about a


180 THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE.
foot in length, several inches broad and thick, and
not at all unlike a cricket-bat — except that it
appeared heavier and more oval-shaped at the end.
The animals were somewhat larger than otters, not
so long, but much thicker and heavier in the body.
"I had never seen such creatures before, but I
knew at once what they were—for although I had
neglected my other studies, natural history had
always been my favourite, and I had made some pro-
gress in that. I knew, then, that the strange beings
before me were bearers — the castor fiber of the
naturalists.
"The whole mystery was now explained. A
colony of beavers had migrated into the valley, and
constructed their dam; and this it was which had
caused the sudden inundation.
"I remained for some time, after I had made the
discovery, watching these creatures and their inter-
esting movements. The breastwork appeared to be
quite finished; but this did not follow from tbe fact
that the animals were no longer at work upon it, as it
is only by night they perform such labour. In fact,
they are rarely seen except by night, in countries
where they have been disturbed or hunted; but here
they were evidently unaccustomed to man. They


182 THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE.
with his tail. This was evidently a signal; for, the
moment he had given it, the animal, as if pursued,
pitched himself head-foremost into the lake, and
disappeared. The rest started as soon as they heard
it; and looking around for a moment, as if in affright,
they all ran to the bank, and plunged simultaneously
under the water—each of them striking a blow with
his tail as he went under!
"I now looked for the cause of this sudden move-
ment. All at once I perceived, coming around the lake
where the sentry-beaver had disappeared, a strange-
looking animal. It move'd slowly and silently, skulk-
ing among the trees, and keeping close in to the
water's edge. I saw that it was making for the new-
built dam, and I remained where I was to watch it.
At length it reached the breast-work, and crawled
cautiously along it, keeping behind the parapet—so
as not to be seen from the lake above.
"I had now a good view of it, and a vicious-
looking creature it was. It was not much larger
than one of the beavers themselves; and in some
points not unlike them; but in other respects the
difference was marked. It was of a very different
colour—being nearly black upon the back and belly,
while a light brown strip traversed both its sides,


THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE. 183
meeting over its rump. Its nose and feet were com-
pletely black, while its breast and throat were white,
and a whitish ring was around each of the eyes. It
had small ears, with stiff bristles at the nose, and a
short and bushy tail. The hair over its whole body
was long and shaggy. Its legs were thick and mus-
cular, and so short that, when it moved, its belly
seemed to trail along the ground. It appeared
rather to crawl than to walk. But this arose from
the fact of its being an animal of the plantigrade
family; and using its feet to walk upon — which in
many other animals, such as the horse, appear to
form part of the legs. With the animal in question
the feet were long, black, and armed with white
curving claws. Its whole appearance was that of a
carnivorous creature — in other words, it was a beast
of prey. It was the wolverene, the dreaded enemy of
the beavers.
"On arriving out near the middle of the breast-
work, it stopped; and, planting its forefeet up against
the parapet, raised its head slowly, and looked over
into the lake.
"Although the beaver is an amphibious animal, and
spends full half of his time in the water, he cannot
remain long, without coming to the surface to


* 184 THE BEAVERS AXD WOLVERENE.
take breath; and already the heads of several were
seen at different points in the lake. Others, again,
had boldly climbed out on the little islets which here
and there appeared above water, and where they
knew that the wolverene, who is not a good swimmer,
could not reach them. None of them, however,
showed any signs of returning to the breast-work.
"The wolverene seemed also to have arrived at
this conclusion; for now—apparently careless of being
seen from the lake—he looked around him on all
sides and above, as if he either intended giving up
the pursuit of his prey, or adopting some more
effective measure to secure it. At length he ap-
peared to have formed some resolution, and leaping
boldly up on the parapet, so as to be seen by the
beavers, he walked back again along the water's
edge whence he had come. On getting a good dis-
tance from the breast-work, he stopped for a moment;
and then, turning away from the lake, ran off into
the woods.
"I was curious to see whether the beavers would
now return to the breast-work, and I resolved to
remain a while longer without showing myself. I
waited about five minutes or more, at the end of
which time I saw several of them—who had gone to



The Wolverene and the Beavers.


THE BEAVEKS AND WOLVERENE. 185
the most distant islets—plunge into the water and
come swimming towards me. As I was watching
them, all at once I heard a rustling among the
fallen leaves near the dam; and on looking I per-
ceived the wolverene making all the haste he could
toward the breast-work. . On reaching it, however,
instead of running out behind the parapet as before, I
saw him plant his long claws against a tree, and com-
mence climbing upward, keeping on that side farthest
from the lake. The branches of this tree stretched
horizontally out, and directly over the breast-work.
In a short time the wolverene had reached the fork
of one of these; and, crawling out upon it, he laid
himself flat along the branch and looked downward.
"He had scarcely settled himself on his perch,
when half-a-dozen beavers—thinking from what they
had seen that he must have gone clear off—climbed
out upon the breastwork, flapping their great tails as
they came. They were soon under the very branch,
and I saw the wolverene with his legs erected and
ears set for the spring. This was my time, and
glancing up the barrel of my rifle, I aimed directly
for his heart. At the crack, the astonished beavers
leaped back into the water, while the wolverene
dropped from his perch—a little sooner, perhaps,


186 THE BEAVERS AND WOLVERENE.
than he had intended—and rolled over the ground
evidently wounded. I ran up and struck at him
with the butt-end of my gun, intending to finish him;
but, to my astonishment, the fierce brute seized the
stock in his teeth, and almost tore it to pieces! For
some time I hammered him with huge stones—he all
the while endeavouring to lay hold of me with his
long curved claws—and it was not until I got a down-
blow at his head with my axe that the fight was
ended. A fearful-looking monster he was as he
lay stretched before me, and not unlike the carcajou
which had killed our ox at the camp, only smaller.
I did not attempt to take his carcass with me, as it
was a useless burden. Moreover, from the fetid smell
which he emitted, I was glad to part company as
soon as I had killed him ; and, leaving him where he
lay, I took the shortest road back to the camp.


HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIN.
187
CHAPTEK XVIII.
HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIN.
"I need not describe the joy of my wife and the rest
when I returned, and related to them what I had
seen, as well as my adventure with the wolverene.
The discovery that our new-made lake was nothing
else than a great beaver-dam at once decided the
question as to our remaining in the valley. Here
was a source of wealth to me far greater than would
have been any situation in the mines of Mexico—in
fact, better than a mine itself. The skin of every
beaver in that dam I knew to be worth a guinea and
a half. I saw there were at least an hundred of them
—there might be many more—and how soon would
these multiply into thousands, producing annually
four or five young to every pair of them. We could
tend them—taking care to provide them with food—
and destroy the wolverenes and any other of their


188
HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIN.
enemies, that might exist in the valley. They would
thus increase the faster, and we could easily prevent
them from becoming too numerous by trapping the
older ones, and carefully preserving their skins. After
several years thus employed, we could return to
civilized life, carrying with us enough of their
valuable fur to sell for a smart fortune.
"The prospect of staying where we were was now
delightful—the more so, as I was satisfied it was
the best thing I could do. Even had I been
able to procure a pair of fresh oxen at that mo-
ment, I should not have moved a step farther.
What Mary had said in jest was now likely to be
realized in earnest, We might yet make our fortune
in the Desert!
"Of course, it was a settled point—we resolved
to remain.
"The first thing to be done, then, was to provide
ourselves with a house. It would be a ' log-cabin,'
of course; and putting up a log-cabin was a mere
bagatelle to Cudjo. During our residence in Vir-
ginia, he had built two or three on my farm ; and no
man knew better than he how to do the thing. No
man knew better than he how to shape the logs,
notch them, and lay them firmly in their beds—no


HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIN.
189
man knew better how to split the 'clap-boards,' lay
them on the rafters, and bind them fast, without
even a single nail—no man knew how to 'chink'
the walls, clay the chimney, and hang the door of a
log-cabin better than Cudjo. No. I will answer
for that—Cudjo could construct a log-cabin as well
as the most renowned architect in the world.
"There was plenty of the right kind of timber at
hand—plenty of tulip-trees with their tall straight
trunks rising to the height of fifty feet without a
branch; and for the next two days the axe of Cudjo
could be heard with its constant 'check—check,'
while every now and then the crash of a falling tree
woke the echoes of the valley. While Cudjo was
felling the timber and cutting it into logs of a pro-
per length, none of the rest of us were idle. In
cooking our meals, scouring the vessels, and looking
after the children, Mary found sufficient employ-
ment; whili Frank, Harry, and I, with the help of
our horse Pompo, were able to drag the logs forward to
the spot where we had designed to put up the cabin.
"On the third day, Cudjo notched the logs, and
on the fourth we raised the walls up to the square.
On the fifth, we set up the gables and rafters, which,
you know, is done by shortening the gable-logs sue-


190
HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIN.
cessively, as you go upward, and tying each pair of
them by a pair of rafters notched into them, at the
ends, precisely as the wall-logs below. A ridge-pole
completed the frame, and that was laid by the
evening of the fifth day.
"Upon the sixth day, Cudjo went to work upon a
large oak which he had felled and cut into lengths
of about four feet each, at the beginning of our opera-
tions. It was now somewhat dry, so as to split
easily; and with his axe and a set of wedges he
attacked it. By sunset, he had a pile of clap-boards
beside him as large as a wagon—quite enough to
'shingle' the roof of our house. During that day,
I employed myself in tempering the clay for chinking
the walls and plastering the chimney.
"On the seventh day, we all rested from our labour.
We did so because it was Sunday. We had resolved
ever to keep the Sabbath. Though the eyes of men
could not see us—which I fear is too often the
reason for observing the sacred day—we knew that
the eye of God was upon us, even in that remote
valley.
"We rose as early as usual, and after eating our
breakfasts, the Bible was brought forth, and we
offered—the only sacrifice to Him acceptable—the


HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIS.
mi
sacrifice of our humble prayers. Mary had been
busy during the week, and our little ones were
dressed out, as if for a holiday. Taking them along
with us, we all walked down to the lake and some
distance around its edge. We saw that the beavers
had been as busy in building as we; and already
their cone-shaped dwellings appeared above the
water—some of them near the shore, arid others upon
the little islets. There was only one which we could
reach, and this we examined with great curiosity.
It stood only a few yards from the shore, but at a
place where the water was deep on its front side. It was
nearly cone-shaped, or rather the form of a bee-hive;
and was constructed out of stones, sticks and mud mixed
with grass. Part of it was under water, but although
we could not look into the interior, we knew that
there was an upper story above water-mark — for we
saw the ends of the joists that supported the second
floor. The entrance was toward the centre of the
lake and under the water—so that in going out of
and into his house, the beaver is always under the
necessity of making a dive. But he does not mind
that, as it seems to be rather a pleasure to him than
an inconvenience. There was no entrance toward
the land, as we had often heard. Indeed, it would


192 HOW TO BUILD A LOG-CABIN.
be bad policy in the beaver, thus to make a door by
which his enemy, the wolverene, could easily get in
and destroy him. The houses were all plastered
over with mud, which, by the flapping of the tails
and the constant paddling of the broad web-feet, had
become as smooth as if the mud had been laid on with
a trowel. We knew that they were also plastered
inside, so as to render them warm and commodious
in winter.
"Some of these dwellings were not regular cones,
but rather of an oval shape; and sometimes two were
placed, as it were, 'under one roof,' so as to steady
them in the water, and save labour in the building.
They were all pretty large—many of them rising the
height of a man above the surface of the lake, and
with broad tops, where the beavers delighted to sit
and sun themselves. Each house was built by its
own inhabitants, and each of them was inhabited by
a single pair of beavers—man and wife—and in
some instances where there were families by four or
five. Some of them who had finished their houses
earlier than the rest, had already commenced gather-
ing their provisions for the winter. These consisted
of the leaves and soft twigs of several species of trees
—such as willow, birch, and mulberry—and we saw


HOW TO BUILD A LOU-CABIN.
193
collections of these floating in the water in front of
several of the houses.
"It was late in the season for beavers to be con-
structing a new dam. It is generally in spring when
they perform that labour; but it was evident that
the present colony had just arrived—no doubt driven
by trappers or Indians, or perhaps drought, from
their last settlement, hundreds of miles away. We
conjectured that they must have come up the stream
that ran away to the eastward.
"They must have entered the valley some time
before we discovered them, as it would have taken
them several days to gnaw down the trees and
accumulate the materials for the dam that had so
suddenly started up to alarm us. Some of these
trees were nearly a foot in diameter, while many of
the stones—which they had rolled up or carried
between their fore paws and throat—would have
weighed nearly a score of pounds.
"It was evident, then, they had arrived late in the
season, and had worked hard to get ready for the
winter. But Cudjo and I were determined, as soon
as we should have finished our building operations,
to lend them a hand in laying in their stock of pro-
visions.
0


194
THE SAGACIOUS SQUIRREL.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE SAGACIOUS SQUIRREL.
"While we thus stood watching the movements of
our beavers, and conversing about the habits of these
interesting animals, an incident occurred which very
much amused us, and proved that the beavers were
not the only animals whom Nature had gifted with
extraordinary sagacity.
"Near the middle of the lake stood a clump of
tall trees—their trunks immersed for two or three feet
under the water. These trees had been upon the
bank of the rivulet, previous to the formation of the
dam; and they were now surrounded on all sides,
forming a kind of timber islet. It was evident, how-
ever, that they were destined to decay, as they were
trees of the poplar species, and such as could not live
with their roots covered with water.
"Among the tops of these trees we observed


THE SAGACIOUS SQUIRREL. 195
several small animals leaping nimbly about from
branch to branch and from one tree to the other.
They were squirrels. They seemed to be labouring
under some unusual excitement—as though they had
been alarmed by the presence of an enemy. But
there did not appear to be any such enemy near
them. We noticed that they passed from tree to
tree, running down the trunks of each, as far as the
water would allow them; and then, after looking
outward, as if they intended to leap into the lake,
they would suddenly turn back again, and gallop up
into the high branches. There were in all about a
dozen of them; but the nimbleness, with which they
passed from place to place, would have led one to
believe that there were ten times that number; and
the twigs and leaves were constantly kept in motion,
as though a large flock of birds were fluttering
through them.
"We had noticed these animals before, from time
to time, dashing about in the same clump of trees;
but not thinking it anything unusual, had paid no
attention to their movements. Now, however, it
occurred to us that these little creatures—who never
take to the water unless compelled by absolute ne-
cessity—had been suddenly cut off from their usual


196
THE SACxACIOLS SQUIRREL.
range by the forming of the dam, and were held
where they were in a state of captivity. This was
the more evident, as the trees had been stripped of
many of their leaves, and the bark was peeled from
the more tender twigs and branches. It was plain
that the squirrels had been living for some time
upon short allowance, and were anxious to get off
from the place.
"We now saw what was causing the unusual com-
motion among them at that particular time. Near
the clump of trees, but higher up the lake, a small
log was floating in the water. It had somehow got
into the stream above, and was being borne down by
the current. It was at this moment nearing the little
island of timber upon which were the squirrels; but
it came on very slowly, as the current through the
lake was hardly perceptible. It was this log that was
causing such a flurry; and the animals evidently
intended—should it come near enough—to use it as
a raft.
"We seated ourselves to watch their manoeuvres.
On came the log slowly and gradually; but, instead
of drifting directly for the timber, it was borne by the
current in a direction that would carry it at least
twenty yards from the trees. The squirrels had


THE SAGACIOUS SQUIRREL.
197
gathered upon that side; and now, instead of running
up and down the trunks, as before, they all stood
upon the topmost branches apparently watching the
motions of the log.
"' Poor little creatures!' said Mary, 'they will
be unable to reach it, after all. What a pity!'
"Just as she made this reflection, the log floated
forward to the point where it was likely to be nearest
to the clump in passing. A long branch stretched out
in that direction; but, as we calculated, the drift-
wood was not likely to pass nearer than twenty
yards. On this branch, however, the squirrels had
now gathered, one behind the other in a long string,
and we could see the foremost of them straining him-
self as if to spring.
"' Surely, they do not intend,—surely, they can-
not leap so far!' said Mary, as we all stood holding
our breath, and watching them with intense curiosity.
"' Yes, Missa,' replied Cudjo; 'de do intend.
Gosh! de leap him, too. Dis nigga see 'em in
Vaginny leap far furrer. Looky now! Yonder de
go —wap!'
"As Cudjo spoke, the foremost squirrel launched
out into the air, and the next moment pounced down
upon the log. Then another followed, and another,


198
THE SAGACIOUS SQUIRREL.
and another, looking like so many birds flying
through the air in a string, until the log was covered
with the little creatures, and floated off with its cargo!
"We supposed that they had all succeeded in get-
ting off, but in this we were mistaken. On looking up
to the trees again, we saw that there was still one
remaining. He appeared not to have got out upon
the projecting branch in time,— for the weight of
each of those that preceded him, coming down upon
the log had pushed it so far off, that he became, no doubt,
afraid to venture taking such a long leap. He was now
running to and fro, apparently in a frantic state—
both on account of his inability to escape, and his
being thus left alone. For some time he kept
springing from tree to tree, running down the trunks
of all to the very edge of the water, and stopping
now and again to look hopelessly after his com-
panions.
"At length, we saw him descend a tree, whose
bark was exceedingly rough—in fact, crisped outward
in great broad pieces, or scales of a foot long, and
several inches broad, that looked as though they were
about to fall from the tree. For this reason, the
tree is known among backwoodsmen as the 'scaly
bark.' Having descended this tree, nearly to the


THE SAGACIOUS SQUIRREL.
199
point where it rose above the water, the squirrel was
seen to stop; and for a moment we lost sight of him,
where he was hidden behind one of the broad pieces
of bark. We thought he had taken shelter there,
intending to rest himself. Presently, however, we
saw the bark moving backwards and forwards, and
from what we could see of the little animal, it was
evident he was trying with all his might to detach it
from the tree. Occasionally he ran out from the
crevice—scratched the bark outside with teeth and
claws—and then hurriedly disappeared again.
"These strange manoeuvres were kept up for
several minutes, while we all remained upon the
shore, watching with curiosity for the result.
"At length, we saw the piece of bark move rapidly
outward from the trunk, and hang down suspended
only by a few fibres. These were soon gnawed by
the teeth of the squirrel, and the broad scale fell
into the water. It had hardly touched the surface,
when the animal ran nimbly down, and leaped upon
it! There was no current at the spot where the bark
fell into the water; and we were in doubt whether
it would carry him out from among the trees; but
we were soon convinced that our squirrel knew what
he was about. As soon as he had fairly balanced


200
THE SAGACIOUS SQUIRREL.
himself upon his tiny craft, he hoisted his hroad
bushy tail high up in the air, by way of a sail; and,
the next moment, we saw that the breeze catching
upon it wafted the little mariner slowly, but surely,
outward! In a few seconds he had cleared the trees;
and the wind soon brought him within the influence
of the current, which caused his bark to float down-
ward after his companions. ,
"These had well-nigh reached the breastwork of
the dam; and Harry wished very much to intercept
them as they got to land. This wish, however, was
overruled by his mother, who very justly declared
that the little creatures deserved to escape, after
having so well amused us by their ingenuity.
"In a short time, they all leaped ashore, and went
scampering off among the trees in search of a din-
ner—for by this time, no doubt, they were suffi-
ciently hungry.


A HOUSE BUILT WITHOUT A NAIL.
201
CHAPTER XX.
A HOUSE BUILT WITHOUT A NAIL.
"Next day Cudjo and I went on with our house-
building. This day was appropriated to roofing it.
We first laid a row of the clap-boards, projecting
considerably over the eaves—so as to cast the water
far out. These we secured near their lower ends by
a long straight pole, which traversed the roof hori-
zontally from gable to gable, and was lashed down
by strips of wet elk-hide. These we knew would
tighten as they dried, and press the pole firmer than
ever against the boards.
"We now laid a second row of the clap-boards—
with their lower ends riding the upper ones of the
first row, and thus securing them. The second row
was in its turn secured by a horizontal pole, along
its bottom, and at its top by the lower ends of the
third row; and so on up to the ridge.


202
A HOUSE BUILT WITHOUT A NAIL.
"The other side was shingled in a similar manner;
and the ridge itself was secured against leakage, by
allowing the clap-boards, on one side, to project up-
wards, and shelter the ends of those on the other.
This gave our cabin quite a chanticleer sort of comb
along its top, and added to the picturesqueness of its
appearance.
"Our house was now built and roofed, and we
could say that we had finished a house without ever
having been inside of it — for as yet it had neither
door nor windows. As the spaces between the
logs were not yet 'chinked,' it looked more like a
gigantic cage than a house.
"Our next day was devoted to making the door
and window—that is, making the apertures where
these were to be. We designed having only one
window—in the back.
"The manner in which we opened our doorway
was very simple. Having first carefully rested the
logs—which were to be on each side of the door—
upon firm wedges, we sawed away the parts between.
Fortunately, we had a saw, or this operation would
have given us a good deal of trouble. Of course, we
sawed away the proper size for a door; and thus our
doorway, by placing the lintels and posts, was com-


A HOUSE BUILT WITHOUT A NAIL. 203
plete. In a similar manner we cut out our window
in the back. We then went to work upon one of
the soft tulip-trees, and sawed out enough plank to
make a door and window, or rather a window-shutter.
These we cut to the proper size, and bound them
together by slats, and tre-nails made out of the hard
locust-wood. We then hung them—both door and
window-shutter—with strips of elk-skin. That night
we carried in all our bedding and utensils, and slept
under the roof of our new house.
"It was still far from being finished; and, the next
day, we set about building a fire-place and chimney.
This, of course, was to be in one of the gable ends, and
■we chose that looking northward—for we had built our
cabin fronting to the east. We wedged the logs
precisely as we had done with the door, and then
sawed away the space between—up to the height of
an ordinary mantel-piece. Behind this, and alto-
gether outside the house, we built a fire-place of
stones and clay—laying a hearth of the same ma-
terials, that completely covered the sleeper — in
order to prevent the latter from being burned. On
the top of this fire-place, the chimney was still to be
erected; and this was done by notching short straight
pieces of timber, and placing them across each other,


204 A HOUSE BUILT WITHOUT A NAIL.
exactly as we' had laid the logs of the house itself.
These pieces were put in shorter, as we advanced to
the top—so that the top ones might be lighter and
more easily supported by those below; and when
the whole was finished, and the chinks filled with
clay, our chimney tapered upward like the funnel of
a little factory. The chimney and fire-place occupied
us quite a day, and at night—although it was not
very cold—we tried it with a log-fire. It drew beau-
tifully.
"Next day we 'chinked' the walls all round with
chips, stones, and clay. We chinked gables and all,
until not a hole was to be seen that would let a mouse
through. The floor still remained; but we intended
to lay this with plank, and as we had no means of
getting them except by our small saw, and they
would require some time to dry, we resolved to at-
tend, first, to several other things that were of more
necessity, and finish the floor at our leisure. We
carpeted the ground, which was quite dry, with green
palmetto leaves, and that rendered it sufficiently
comfortable for the present. We now formally en-
tered our new house, which we had built from floor
to chimney without a nail!
"Our next care was to furnish our horse with a


A HOUSE BUILT WITHOUT A NAIL.
205
house—in other words, to build a stable. Not that
the weather rendered it at all necessary for Pompo—
so our horse was called—to sleep under a roof; but
we were fearful lest some beast of prey, prowling
about by night, should fancy him—as the carcajou
had fancied our poor ox.
"The stable was only a two days'job—as we built
it out of logs already cut, and roofed it with the
refuse of our clap-boards. Besides, we had no win-
dow nor chimney to make, and we did not chink the
logs, as that was not necessary for a stable in such a
climate. Our horse would be warm enough without
that, and Cudjo had made him a trough by hollowing
out one of the tulip-trees.
"From that time forth Pompo was regularly called
every evening at sunset, and shut up in his stable.
We could not afford to let the carcajou make a meal
of him, as in our log-hauling and other labours he
was of great service to us.
"As soon as the stable was finished, we set to
work and put up a table and six strong chairs. As
I have said, we had no nails; but, fortunately enough,
I had both a chisel and auger, with several other use-
ful tools. All of these I had brought in the great
chest from Virginia, thinking they might be needed


206 A HOUSE BUILT WITHOUT A NAIL.
on our beautiful farm at Cairo. With the help of
these, and Cudjo's great skill as a joiner, we were
able to mortise and dovetail at our pleasure, and I
had made a most excellent glue from the horns of
the elk and ox, along with their hoofs. We wanted
a plane to polish our table, but this was a want which
we could easily endure. The lid of our table was
made of plank sawed out of the catalpa-tree; and
with some pieces of pumice I had picked up in the
valley, and the constant scouring which it received
at the hands of our housewife, it soon exhibited a
surface as smooth as glass. From my finding this
pumice-stone, I concluded that our snow-mountain
had once been a volcano—perhaps like the peak of
Teneriffe, standing alone in the water, when the
great plain around us had been covered with a sea.
"Cudjo and I did not forget the promise we had
made to the beavers. We could see these little
creatures, from day to day, very busy in drawing
large branches to the water, and then floating them
towards their houses. We knew that this was for
their winter provisions. They had grown quite tame,
as soon as they found we were not going to molest
them, and frequently came out on our side of the
lake. For this confidence on their part we were


A HOUSE BUILT WITHOUT A NAIL. 207
determined to give them a treat they little dreamt of
—at least, of receiving from our hands.
"I had noticed a clump of beautiful trees, which
grew near one side of the glade, and not far from
where we had built our house. Our attention had
been called to them by the aromatic fragrance of
their flowers, that blew around us all the time we
were engaged in building. They were low, crooked
trees, not over thirty feet in height—with oval leaves,
six inches in length, and of a bluish-green colour.
The flowers were about the size of a rose, although
more like a lily in appearance, and white as snow.
Their perfume was extremely agreeable, and Mary
was in the habit of gathering a bunch of them daily,
and placing them in a vessel of water.
"I have already said that my wife understood
botany, and all botanists take a pleasure in imparting
their knowledge to others. She explained to us,
therefore, the nature and properties of this sweet-
scented tree. It was a species of magnolia—not that
which is celebrated for its large flowers, but another
kind. It was the magnolia glauca, sometimes called
'swamp sassafras,' but more generally known among
hunters and trappers as the ' beaver-tree.' It is so
named by them, because the beaver is fonder of its


208
A HOUSE BUILT WITHOUT A NAIL.
roots than of any other food; so fond of it, indeed,
that it is often used as a bait to the traps by which
these animals are caught.
"Whether our beavers had already discovered their
favourite tree in some other part of the valley, we did
not know. Probably they had; but, at all events,
Cudjo and I by a very little labour, with our spade
and axe, could save them a great deal; and so we set
about it.
"In a few hours we had dug up several armfuls of
the long branching roots, and carried them down
to the edge of the lake. We flung them into
the water at a place where we knew the animals were
in the habit of frequenting. In a short time the aro-
matic roots were discovered, when a whole crowd of
beavers were seen hurrying to the spot, and swim-
ming off again to their houses, each with a root or a
whole bunch of them in his teeth. That was a grand
festival for the beavers.


A BATTCE OF " BLACK-TAILS."
209
CHAPTER XXI.
A BATTUE OF " BLACK-TAILS."
"Of course we could do nothing more for our
beavers at present. It was not our intention to trap
any of them until they should become very numerous,
and then we could obtain annually a large number of
skins. Their tails, we knew, were very good to
eat—in fact, quite a delicacy—but we could not afford
to kill one of them merely for the sake of eating his
tail, and the other parts of the beaver's flesh are by
no means palatable. Besides, we expected to find
enough of game without that, as in every part,
where the ground was soft, we saw the tracks of deer
and other animals.
"By the time we had fairly furnished our house,
the flesh of the elk was beginning to run short, so
that a grand hunting excursion was determined upon.
It was also to be an exploring expedition, as up to
P


SIO A BATTUE OF "BLACK-TAILS."
1
this time we had not visited any part of the valley
except that which lay immediately around our house.
Frank, Harry, and myself, were to form the party,
while Cudjo was to remain by the house, qpd guard
the female portion of our little community with his
great spear.
"Everything being ready, we started out with our
three rifles, and took the route up the valley. As
we passed along under high trees, we could see
squirrels upon all sides of us; some of them sitting
on their hind-quarters like little monkeys; some of
them cracking nuts; some of them barking like
toy-dogs; while others, again, leaped about among
the branches. Of course, as we advanced upon them,
they sprang up the trees, or streaked off along the
ground so swiftly that it seemed more like the flight
of a bird than the running of a four-footed animal.
On reaching a tree they would gallop up it, generally
keeping on the opposite side to that on which we
were, so that they might be secure. Sometimes,
however, their curiosity would get the better of
their fears, and when they had climbed as high as
the first or second forking of the branches, they
would stop there and gaze down upon us, all the
while flourishing their light bushy tails. We had


A BATTUE OF " BLACK-TAILS." 211
excellent opportunities of getting a shot at them, and
Harry, who was not so thoughtful as his brother,
wished very much to try his skill; but I forbade this,
telling him that we could not afford to throw away
our ammunition on such small game. Indeed, this
was a thought that frequently entered my mind, and
made me anxious about what we should do when
our ammunition became exhausted. I cautioned both
my boys, therefore, not to spend a single shot on any
animal smaller than elk or deer, and they promised
to obey me.
"When we had gone about a mile up-stream, we
saw that the trees grew thinner as we advanced,
and then opened into small glades, or spaces covered
with herbage and flowers, usually called 'openings.'
This, surely, was the very place to find deer—much
more likely than in the thick woods, where these
animals are in more danger from the cougar and
carcajou, that occasionally drop upon them from the
trees. We had not gone far among these openings,
before we saw fresh tracks. They were more like the
tracks of a goat than those of a deer, except that they
were much larger. They were nearly as large as the
tracks of the elk, but we knew they were not these.
"We advanced with great caution, keeping in


212
A BATTUE OF " BLACK-TAILS."
the underwood as much as possible. At length we
saw that there was a large glade before us, much
larger than any we had yet passed. We could tell this
by the wide clear spaces that appeared through the
trees. We stole silently forward to the edge of this
glade, and, to our great satisfaction, saw a herd of
deer feeding quietly out upon the open ground.
"'Papa, they are not deer,' said Frank, as we
first came in sight of them. 'See! who ever heard
of deer with such ears as those? I declare they are
as long as a mule's!'
"' Yes,' added Harry; 'and who ever heard of
deer with black tails?'
"I confess I was myself puzzled for a while. The
animals before us were certainly deer, as their long
slender legs and great branched antlers testified;
but they were very different from the common kind
—and different, too, from the elk. They were much
larger than the red or fallow deer, though not unlike
them in shape and colour. But that which was
strange, as my boys had at once noticed, was the
peculiarity of their ears and tails. The former were
quite as long as the ears of a mule, and reached more
than half way to the tops of their antlers. Their
tails, again, were short and bushy, of a whitish


214 A BATTUE OF " BLACK-TAILS."
"After thinking about this for a moment, I saw
that an open passage led out of the glade through
the trees on the other side. It was a wide avenue
leading into some other glade; and I knew that the
deer when startled would be most likely to make off.
in that direction. I determined, therefore, to creep
round to the other side, and intercept them as they
attempted to run through. Frank was to remain
where we first saw them, while Harry would go
half way along with me, and then take his stand
behind a tree. We should thus enclose the deer
in a sort of triangle, and some one of us would be
sure of getting them within range before they could
escape.
"I had scarcely got to the edge of the opening
when I saw that the herd was browsing in towards
Frank. They were every moment getting closer and
closer to him, and I watched eagerly for the shot. I
knew he would not fire until they were very near, as
I had cautioned him not to do so, on account of the
smallness of his rifle. Presently I saw the stream
of smoke and fire issuing from the leaves; then fol-
lowed the sharp crack, and then the yelping of our
dogs as they broke forward. At the same time one
of the deer was seen to spring upward and fall dead
»



A BATTUE OF "BLACK-TAILS." 215
in its tracks. The others wheeled and ran, first one
way and then another, in their confusion; until, after
doubling several times, they made towards the open-
ing where I stood. In their flight, however, they
had gone too close to Harry, and as they were run-
ning past his stand, the tiny crack of a rifle was
heard among the bushes; and another of the black-
tails rolled over on the plain.
"It was now my turn; and I prepared myself to
make the best shot I could or be beaten by my own
boys. So as they came up I let drive at them, to my
mortification missing them every one—as I thought
at the moment. It soon appeared, however, that I
was mistaken in this. Castor and Pollux swept past
upon the heels of the herd; and before they had dis-
appeared out of the long avenue, I saw the dogs
spring upon the haunches of one that lagged behind,
and drag him to the ground. I ran to their assist-
ance, and seizing the wounded animal by one of its
antlers, soon put an end to it with my knife. I had
wounded it in the flank; and that had enabled the
mastiffs to overtake it, which they could not have
done otherwise, as its companions were at the time
several hundred yards ahead of it. We all now came


216 A BATTUE OF "BLACK-TAILS."
together, exulting in the fine fortune we had met
with, for we had made a regular battue of it. We
were glad that none of us had missed, and that we
had succeeded in obtaining so much good meat, for we
were not slaughtering these beautiful creatures out
of wanton sport, but from the necessity of procuring
food. Each congratulated the others upon their good
shooting, and said nothing of his own—although it
was plain that all three of us were proud of our re-
spective shots. To do justice, however, that of Harry
was decidedly the best. He had knocked his one
over while on the run — no easy matter with these
black-tails, who do not gallop regularly as other deer,
but bound forward, lifting all their feet together, as
you will sometimes see sheep do. This mode of run-
ning is one of the peculiarities of their species—
which, perhaps, more than any other thing, distin-
guishes them from the common deer.
"After carefully wiping out, and then reloading,
our rifles, we rested them against the trees, and set
to work to skin our game.
"While engaged in this operation, Harry com-
plained of thirst. Indeed, we were all thirsty as
well, for the sun was hot, and we had walked a good


218
A BATTUE OF " BLACK-TAILS."
pointed out to them the importance of what we had
found. We had been in great need of salt—for we
had not a single grain of it—and had felt the want
ever since our arrival in the valley. Only they who
cannot get salt, can understand what a terrible thing
it is to be without this homely, but necessary
article.
"The flesh of our elk, which for many days past
we lived upon, had proved quite insipid for want of
salt, and we had not been able to make a soup that
was in any way palatable. Now, however, we should
have as much as we desired; and I explained to my
companions, that by simply boiling this water in our
kettle, we should obtain the very thing we so much
stood in need of. This, as they saw, would be great
news for mamma on our return; and the prospect of
making her happy, by imparting the information,
rendered all of us impatient to get back. We did
not stay a moment by the salt stream, which was a
very small rivulet of blue water, and evidently run-
ning from some spring that bubbled in the valley.
Not far below us, we saw where it ran into the main
stream of fresh water; and, keeping down to the lat-
ter, we quenched our thirst, and then went back to
our work.


220
CATCHING A TARTAR.
CHAPTER XXII.
CATCHING A TARTAR.
"Of course, Mary was much pleased on hearing of
the discovery we had made. One of the first requi-
sites of a housewife is a supply of good salt; and
that we promised to ohtain for her on the morrow.
It was our intention to carry the kettle up to the
salt stream, and there manufacture the article, as
that would be more convenient than to bring the
water down to the house. This piece of work we
laid out for the next day. Meanwhile, as it was
not yet near night, we caught Pompo, and set off
again to bring our black-tails home. This required
us to make several journeys, as we had no cart by
which we could bring the deer all at once, and each
of them was as large as a good-sized heifer. We
succeeded, however, in getting all to the house before
sunset—except the skins, which we left hanging on


CATCHING A TARTAB.
221
the trees for another day. While the boys and I
had been engaged at this work, Cudjo was not idle.
It was our intention to cure the venison—not by 'jerk-
ing,' as we had done the elk-meat, but with the salt,
which we were about to make on the morrow. For
this purpose, we should require a large vessel capable
of holding the pickle. We had nothing of the sort;
and, of course, we were puzzled for a while as to how
we should manage without it. It was early in the
day—before we had brought in the venison—that
this difficulty occurred to us.
"' Why could we not leave it in the stream
itself?' asked Harry. 'The water is very clear,
and there are clean hard rocks on the bottom. Why
could we not sink the quarters of venison on these
rocks, and make them fast, by placing great stones
on them?'
"' Ha, ha!' laughed Frank, 'trust the wolves
for finding them there. These gentry would soon
empty your famous pickle barrel.'
"' Look hyar, Massa,' said Cudjo; 'this nigga
sees no difficulty hout dat. He soon make a place
for de meat.'
"' How, Cudjo ?' inquired Mary.


222
CATCHING A TARTAR.
"' Why, Missa, same's dey make de ole dug-out
in Varginny—by hollering out de log.'
"This was the very thing itself. A log hollowed
out after the manner of a canoe, or 'dug-out/—as
Cudjo was used to designate this species of craft—
would answer the purpose admirably; and Cudjo,
having chosen a fine large section of a tulip-tree,
went to work. By the time we had got our last load
to the house, he had made a cavity in the tree, that
was large enough to contain the three black-tails at
once. A valuable idea was also suggested by this
operation. We remembered the wooden trays, dishes,
and other utensils—made in this way—that we had
often seen among the negroes on our plantation.
These, however rude, we saw answered the purpose
well; and we might hereafter supply ourselves in a
similar manner.
"After breakfast the next morning, we started for
the salt stream. We all went together, Mary riding
the horse, while Cudjo and I carried the children in
our arms. Frank and Harry took the kettle upon
a long pole between them, each at the same time,
having his rifle in the other hand. The dogs of
course followed us, and our house was left to take


CATCHING A TARTAR.
for a time when they might he more available in
producing a happy effect.
"As we were all marching through a small glade,
talking and laughing in high glee, an animal leaped
out of some bushes before us, and ran slowly off to
one side. It was a beautiful little creature, about
the size of a cat, with dark glossy hair, spotted about
the head and neck, and with clear white stripes run-
ning along its back. It did not go far before it
stopped, and, throwing up its long bushy tail, looked
back at us with the playful and innocent air of a
kitten. I knew very well what the pretty creature
was. Not so the impetuous Harry, who, thinking
that here was the very 'pet' he wanted, dropped his
pole, kettle, and all, and made after it.
"I cried out to him to desist, but the boy, either not
hearing me—on account of the yelping of the dogs, who
had also started in pursuit—or being too intent on
making a capture, ran on after the animal. But the
chase did not last long. The little creature, appa-
rently not the least frightened at the terrible enemies
that were so close upon its heels—stood near the
edge of the glade, as if to await its pursuers.
Harry, as he ran, was all the while eagerly scolding






The Escape of the Skunk.
P. 225.


CATCHING A TARTAR.
225
off the dogs. He wanted to take the little beauty
alive, and he feared that the mastiffs would kill it
before he could come up. It looked, too, as if they
would, for they were now almost on top of it yelping
with open mouths. Just at this moment, the strange
animal was seen to elevate its hind-quarters, throw
its long tail forward over its back, and give a sud-
den jerk of its body, as if by way of an insult to
its pursuers. But it meant something more than a
mere insult. It meant to punish them for their
audacity. The effect of that singular movement was
at once apparent. The dogs suddenly wheeled in
their tracks. Their victorious yelping was changed
to a fearful howling; and both of them ran back
thrusting their noses into the grass, and capering
over the ground as if they had either been stung by
wasps, or had suddenly fallen into convulsions!
Harry stopped for a moment wondering at this. He
did not stop long. The next moment we saw him
throw his hands up to his face, and uttering a cry
that betokened pain and terror, come running back as
quick as he had gone off.
"The pole-cat (for it was a pole-cat—the mephitis
chinga, or American skunk) for an instant after he
had discharged the fetid shower, stood looking over
Q


CATCHING A TARTAR.
his shoulder in such a way, that we could almost
fancy he was laughing. Then jerking his tail from
side to side in a frolicksome manner, he made a
bound into the bramble, and disappeared.
"Whether the skunk laughed or not, ive did—
especially Frank, who took this method of retaliating
upon his brother for dropping the great kettle
against his shins. But we had no time to lose in
talk, until we could get some distance from the
glade, which was now filled with the suffocating
smell. So calling upon Harry to lay hold of his
burden, we hurried as quickly as possible from the
spot. The dogs, however, brought the effluvia
along with them; and it required unusual scolding
and pelting of stones to keep them at a respectful
distance. Harry had come off better than I expected,
as the animal had directed its battery against the
dogs, and he had only received enough of the dis-
charge to punish him for his rashness and disobe-
dience.
"As we continued our journey, I took the oppor-
tunity to instruct my children in the habits of this
singular animal.
"' You have seen,' said I, addressing myself to
Frank and Harry, 'that it is about the size of a cat,


CATCHING A TARTAR.
227
although broader and fleshier in the body, lower
upon the limbs, and with a sharper and more
elongated snout.
"' You have seen that it is a spotted and striped
animal—and in this respect it also resembles the cat,
as these spots and stripes are different upon different
individuals of the same species—so much so that no
two skunks are exactly alike.
"' You have witnessed the efficient means with
which Nature has armed it against its enemies; and
I shall now tell you all the rest that is known of its
habits.
"'It is a carnivorous creature—destroying and eat-
ing many other beings that have life as well as itself.
For this purpose it is furnished with strong, sharp
claws, and three kinds of teeth, one of which—term ed
canine, or tearing teeth—is a certain symptom of its
being a carnivorous, or flesh-eating animal. You
must know, that the shape of the teeth will always
tell this. Those animals that feed upon vegetables,
such as horses, sheep, rabbits, and deer, have none of
these canine teeth. Well, the skunk has four of
them—two in each jaw, and very sharp ones, too,—
and with these he kills and eats (whenever he is


228
CATCHING A TARTAR.
lucky enough to get hold of them) rabbits, poultry,
birds, mice, frogs, and lizards. He is very fond of
eggs, too; and frequently robs the farm-yard, and the
nests of the ruffed grouse and wild turkey—killing
these birds whenever he can catch them. The kill-
ing, however, is not all upon his side—as the wolf, the
horned owl, the wolverene, and the farmer, in their
turn, kill him whenever they can catch him. He is
not by any means a fast runner, and his safety does not
lie in his swiftness of foot. His defensive armour is
found in the fetid effluvia which, by a muscular exer-
tion, he is capable of ejecting upon his pursuer. This
he carries in two small sacs that lie under his tail,
with ducts leading outward about as large as the
tube of a goose-quill. The effluvia itself is caused by
a thin fluid, which cannot be seen in daylight, but at
night appears, when first ejected, like a double stream
of phosphoric light. He can throw it to the distance
of five yards, and, knowing this, he always waits till
the pursuer has fairly got within range—as the one
we have justseen did with Castor and Pollux. The
discharge of this fluid rarely fails to drive off such
enemies as wolves, dogs, and men. Sometimes it
occasions sickness and vomiting; and it is said that


CATCHING A TARTAR.
229
there are Indians who have lost their eyesight from
inflammation caused by it. Dogs are frequently
swollen and inflamed for weeks, after having received
the discharge of a skunk. In addition to the dis-
agreeableness of this odour, there is no getting rid of
it after the fluid has once been sprinkled over your
garments. Clothes may be washed and buried for
months, but it will still cling to them; and where
a skunk has been killed, the spot will retain the
scent for many months after, even though deep snow
may have lain upon it.
"'It is only when attacked or angered that the
animal sends forth his offensive fluid, and when
killed suddenly, or before he has time to ' fire it off,'
nothing of the kind is perceived upon his carcass.
"'The skunk is a burrowing animal, and in cold
countries he enters his hole, and sleeps in a half-
torpid state throughout the winter. In warm climates,
however, he continues to prowl about all the year
round, generally at night—as, like most predatory
creatures, the night is his day. In his burrow,
which runs several yards underground, he lives, in
company with ten or a dozen of his companions. The
female has a nest in one part, made of grass and


230
CATCHING A TARTAR.
leaves, where she brings forth her young—having
from five to nine kittens at a birth.
"'Strange as it may appear, the Indians, as well as
many white men—hunters and others—eat the flesh
of this animal, and pronounce it both savoury and
agreeable—equal, as they allege, to the finest roast
pig. So much for the skunk and his habits. Now
to the making of our salt.'


THE SALT SPBING.
231
♦
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE SALT SPRING.
"We had now arrived on the banks of the salt creek;
but as we saw the cliff close by, and knew that we
must be near the spring which supplied this little
rivulet, we resolved to travel on to the fountain-head.
A few hundred yards farther brought us to the
spring, and it was well worth travelling a little farther
to see.
"Near the bottom of the cliff were several round
objects, looking like half globes, or bowls turned
upon their mouths. They were of a whitish colour,
resembling white quartz rock; and of all sizes, from
that of a large baking oven to the size of a wooden
dish. In the top of each there was a round cavity—
like a little crater of a volcano—and in this the blue
water bubbled and boiled as though a hot fire was in
the ground underneath them. There were in all


232
THE SALT SPRING.
nearly twenty of these, but many of them were#with-
out the crater-like cavity in the top; and through
the latter, of course, no water escaped to the creek.
They were old ones, that had ceased to run.
"It was evident that these oven-looking mounds
had been formed by the water itself, which had been
depositing the sediment that formed them for many,
many years. Around some of them there grew beau-
tiful plants and shrubs, whose leaves and flowers
hung over, trailing in the water; and from the cliff
above long vines crept out, covered with gay scarlet
blossoms. Bushes of wild currants grew all around,
and the fragrance of their leaves scented the air.
It was altogether a sweet, cool spot, and filled us
with feelings of enjoyment.
"After we had satisfied our curiosity in examin-
ing these objects, we prepared to make our salt.
Frank and Harry collected armfuls of dry wood for
the fire, while Cudjo erected a crane in his usual
fashion. Upon this the kettle was suspended, and
filled with crystal water out of one of the natural
basins. The fire soon blazed under it, and we had
nothing more to do than wait until the evaporation
should be completed by boiling.
"For this purpose we chose a spot where the ground


THE SALT SPRING.
233
was carpeted with a soft green turf, and upon it we
all sat down to wait the result.
"I need not say that in this we had a deep inter-
est, amounting, in truth, to anxiety. It might not
he salt after all. The water tasted salt—that is
true. But so, too, would water impregnated by the
muriate of magnesia or .the sulphate of soda. When
evaporated we might find one or other of these sub-
stances.
"'What is the muriate of magnesia, papa?' inquired
Frank.
"'Perhaps you would know it better by the name
of Epsom salts!' rejoined his mother, with a know-
ing smile.
"' Bah!' returned he, with a grin upon his face,
'I hope it won't turn out that. But what sort of
thing, then, is the sulphate of soda?'
"' That is the scientific name for Glauber's salts.'
"'Worse still! I don't think we stand in need
of either. Do we, Harry?'
"'Not a bit of it,' responded Harry, also grinning
at the thought of these well-known specifics. 'I
would rather it should turn out saltpetre and sulphur.
Then we could make lots of gunpowder.'
"Harry was a great shot, as we have seen, and


234
THE SALT SPRING.
one of his fears was, that our stock of powder should
run out.
"' Do not wish for that, Harry,' said his mother.
'Gunpowder we can do very well without. Let us
hope for something more necessary to us at present.'
"With such-like conversation we passed the time,
while we watched the steaming kettle with feelings
of anxious expectation.
"For myself, I had some reliance upon a fact
which I had observed years before, and had regarded
as singular. It was this. I believe the Creator has
so disposed it, that salt, so essential to animal life,
should be found in all parts of the globe, either in
rocks, springs, standing lakes, incrustations, or■in the
ocean itself. No part of the earth of great extent is
without it; and I had noticed in the interior terri-
tories of the American continent—where the sea was
too distant to be visited by animals—that Nature had
provided numerous salt springs, or 'licks,' as they
are termed in the language of the country. These
springs from time immemorial have been the meeting-
place of the wild creatures of the forest and prairie,
who resort thither to drink their waters, or lick the
saline soil through which these waters run. Hence
their common name. Here, then, was a valley whose


THE SALT SPRING.
235
four-footed inhabitants never roamed beyond its bor-
ders. I believed that Nature had provided for their
wants and cravings by giving them everything neces-
sary to their existence, and among the other necessi-
ties that one which we were now in search of ourselves
—salt. In other words, but that this was a salt
spring, or there existed some other such in the valley,
these creatures would not have been found within it.
I took the opportunity to point out this fact to my
boys, as well as to show them what I myself clearly
recognised in it—the hand of the Creator. It ren-
dered them more confident that, when we had evapo-
rated our water, we should get salt for our pains.
"' Papa,' inquired Frank, who was a great natu-
ralist, ' I should like to know what makes this little
rivulet run salt water.'
"' No doubt,' I replied, 'the water you see gush-
ing forth has just been passing among vast beds of
rock-salt, and has become impregnated with it.'
"' Rock-salt! and is the salt we use found in
rocks?'
"' Not all of it, though great quantities are. There
are beds of rock-salt found in many countries—in
England, and the East Indies, in Russia, and Hun-
gary, and Spain; and it has also been discovered in


236 THE SALT SPRING.
vast quantities in this very Desert we are now in.
These beds of rock-salt, when worked to supply salt
to people, are called salt-mines. The most celebrated
are in Poland, near the city of Cracow. These have
been worked for seven hundred years, and there is
enough left in them yet to supply all the world for
many centuries to come. These mines are said to
be very beautiful, lit up, as they are, by numerous
lamps. The rock has been excavated by the miners
into all sorts of shapes; houses, chapels, columns,
obelisks, and many other ornamental forms of build-
ings, have been made; and these, when illuminated
by lamps and torches, become as splendid and bril-
liant as the palaces of Aladdin.'
"' Oh! I should like so much to see them !' cried
Harry, in a transport.
"' But, papa,' inquired Frank, who always sought
after information on such subjects, ' I never saw any
of this rock-salt. How is it that it comes to us
always crushed, or in great bricks, as if it had been
baked? Do they break it fine before it is sent to
market from the mines?'
"' In some of these mines nothing more is required
than to crush the rock; in others, however, the rock
is not pure salt, but mixed with other substances, as


THE SALT SPRING.
237
oxide of irou and clay. In these cases it is first dis-
solved in water, to separate it from such impurities,
and then evaporated back again into salt, precisely as
we are doing now.'
"'What colour is the salt-rock, papa?'
"'When pure it is white; but it assumes various
colours, according to what substance may be found
mixed with it. It is often yellow, andflesh coloured,
and blue.'
"'How pretty it must be!' exclaimed Harry;
'like precious stones, I declare.'
"' Yes, it is a precious stone,' rejoined his brother;
'more precious, I take it, than all the diamonds in the
world. Is it not, papa?'
"' You are quite right,' I replied. 'Salt-rock is
more valuable to the human race than diamonds,
though they, too, have an absolute value, besides their
value as an ornament. There are some important
uses in arts and manufactures to which they can be
applied.'
"' But, papa,' again inquired Frank, determined
to know everything he could about the article of
salt, 'I have heard that salt is made of sea-water.
Is it so?'
"• Vast quantities of it.'


238
THE SALT SPRING.
"' How is it made?'
"' There are three ways of obtaining it: —First,
in warm climates, where the sun is strong, the sea-
water is collected into shallow pools, and there left
until it is evaporated by the sun's rays. The ground
where these pools are made must neither be muddy
nor porous, else the salt would get mixed with the
mud and sand. Of course the people who manu-
facture it in this way take care to choose firm, hard
ground for the bottom of their pools. There are
sluices attached to these pools by which any water
that will not evaporate is drawn off. Salt is made in
this manner in many southern countries—in Spain
and Portugal, in France and other countries that
lie around the Mediterranean; also in India, China,
Siam, and the island of Ceylon.
"'The second way of making salt from sea-water
is precisely the same as that I have described—
except that, instead of these artificial pools, the
evaporation takes place in broad tracts of country
over which the sea has spread in time of high spring-
tides. When the sea falls again to its proper level,
it leaves behind it a quantity of water in these tracts,
which is evaporated by the sun, and they then become
fields of pure salt. Nothing remains to be done but


THE SALT SPRING.
239
to scrape this salt into heaps and cart it off; and at
the next spring-tide a fresh influx of sea-water pro-
duces a new crop of salt, and so on. This kind is
better than that which is made in the artificial pools
—though neither of them is equal to the salt of the
mines. They are both known in commerce under the
name of 'bay-salt,' to distinguish them from the
'rock-salt.' Great natural beds of the last kind
described are found in the Cape de Verde islands;
also in Turk's island and St. Martin's in the West
Indies, and on Kangaroo Island, near the coast of
Australia.
"'There is still a third plan of making salt out
of the sea. That is by boiling the water, as we are
doing; but this makes the worst of all salt, and it is
far more expensive for any people to manufacture
salt in this way than to buy it from other countries.
Indeed, this last plan would never be adopted were
it not that some foolish governments force their
people to pay a heavy duty for importing salt into
their country, which makes it still cheaper for
them, costly as it is, to manufacture the article at
home.'
"' What makes the sea salt, papa?'


THE SALT SPRING.
"' That is one of the phenomena about which
naturalists have a difference of opinion. Some of
them say there are vast heds of salt at the bottom
which keep the water always impregnated. I think
this notion is very childish, and they who hold it
offer only childish arguments to support it. Others
assert that the salt water of the ocean is a primitive
fluid—that it was always as it now is—which you
will perceive is giving no reason at all, more than
saying, ' it is salt, because it always was salt.' This
is an equally irrational theory. Others, again, be-
lieve that the saltness of the ocean is caused by the
flowing into it of salt rivers. These last, I believe,
hold the true opinion, but unfortunately they have
failed, as far as I know, to answer the objec-
tions which have been raised against it. Your papa
has reflected a good deal upon this subject, and
believes that he can explain away all the diffi-
culties that oppose this last theory. Probably he
may take an early opportunity of doing so, but
it will require more time than he can spare at
present.'
"' Is the sea equally salt at all places?' inquired
the philosopher Frank, after a short pause, during


THE 6ALT SPRING.
241
which he had been busily reflecting on what had
been just said.
"' No; it is more so at the Equator than in the
colder regions around the Poles. It is less salt in
gulfs and inland seas than in the open ocean. This
I believe.I can also explain, because it would support
the theory regarding the rivers of which we have just
spoken. The difference of saltness in different parts
of the sea is, however, very trifling.'
'' ' How much salt is there in the sea-water?'
'■ ' Three and a half per cent nearly. That is, if
you boil down one hundred pounds of sea-water, it
will yield you about three pounds and a half of salt.'
"' But are there not many lakes and brine-
springs that contain a far greater proportion than
that?'
"' Many. There is a large lake lying in this very
Desert, to the north-west of where we are, called the
'Great Salt Lake.' The waters of that lake are
more than one-third pure salt. There are many
springs and rivers that contain a greater proportion
than the ocean itself. It is to be hoped that our own
little creek here will yield better than it.—But come!
let us see how the kettle boils. We had almost
forgotten it.'
R


242
THE SALT SPRING.
"We approached our kettle, and lifted the lid.
To our great joy, a scum was floating on the top,
very much like crystals of ice forming upon melted
snow. Some of it was skimmed off and applied to
our lips. Joy! it was salt—the pure muriate of
soda — equal to the hest ever shipped from Turk's
Island.


THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
343
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
"I need not tell you that the announcement was
received with joyful acclamations; and that one and
all satisfied themselves by tasting of the salt. It
had crystallized into small cubes, as salt always does;
and it was as white as snow, which proved its great
purity. We had put into the kettle — which was a
large camp-kettle — about four gallons of water, and
when it was fully evaporated, we obtained not less
than ten pints of salt, showing that the water of our
spring was much more saline than the sea itself.
"When .our first kettle-full was disposed of, we
re-filled it with water, and again hung it over the
fire. We also hung another vessel beside the kettle;
and that was our frying-pan, in which several fine
steaks of venison, seasoned with the new salt, were
cooked for our dinners. We were not unmindful of


244 THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
the thanks which we owed to God for giving us this
munificent supply of an article so much needed by
us; and as soon as dinner was over, my wife took
occasion to bring this subject pointedly forward,
and we sat for some time conversing upon it.
"All at once we were interrupted by a series of
curious incidents which took place within sight of
our fire. Our attention was first drawn to them
by hearing loud screams at a short distance from
us, which we all recognised as the voice of the blue jay.
There is nothing unusual in hearing this bird scream-
ing half the day—for it is, perhaps, more easily excited
than any other feathered creature. But, if you have
ever noticed, it utters a very peculiar cry when
there is something unusual in the wind. When some
much-dreaded enemy is at hand, its note becomes
extremely shrill and disagreeable. So it was then;
and for that reason it drew my attention, as well as
that of my companions.
"We looked towards the spot whence the cry came.
We could see the branches of a low tree in motion,
and the beautiful sky-blue wings of the bird closing
and spreading again as it fluttered through them.
We could see nothing else upon the tree—that is, no
enemy of the bird—nor on any of the trees near it.


THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES. 245
On lowering our eyes to the ground, however, we
perceived at once what had set the jay to scolding.
Slowly drawing itself along the earth, gliding through
the grass and over the dry leaves, without causing
even the driest of them to rustle, went a hideous
reptile—a snake. Its yellowish body, dappled with
hlack blotches, glittered as the sun glanced from its
lubricated scales, while it rose and fell in wavy
undulations as it moved. It moved slowly—by ver-
tical sinuosities, almost in a direct line, with its
head slightly raised from the grass. At intervals, it
stopped, elevated its neck, lowered its flat coffin-
shaped head, like a feeding swan, gently oscillated
it in a horizontal direction, touched the crisp leaves
with its red tongue—as though it was feeling for a
trail—and then moved on again. In its frequent
pauses, as it lay stretched along the ground it
appeared cylindrical, as long as the tallest man, and
as thick as a man's fore-arm. Its tail ended in a
horny appendage about a foot in length, and resem-
bling a string of large yellowish ill-shaped beads, or
a portion of its own vertebra? stripped of the flesh.
This peculiarity told us its species. We saw before
us the dreaded rattlesnake—the crotalus horridus.
"My companions were eager to rush forward and


246 THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
at once attack the monster I restrained them,
dogs and all. I had heard—who has not?—of the
power of fascination which these reptiles possess. I
knew not whether to believe or disbelieve it. Here
was an opportunity to test its truth. Would it
charm the bird? We should see. One and all
of us remained motionless and silent. The snake
crawled on.
"The bird followed over-head, pitching itself
from branch to branch, from tree to tree, screaming
with open throat. Neither of them noticed U3, as
we were partially concealed where we sat.
"On reaching the foot of a tall magnolia, the
rattlesnake — after going once round the tree, and
apparently smelling the bark—slowly and carefully
wound itself into a spiral coil, close in to the trunk.
Its body now presented the appearance of a speckled
and glittering cable, as they are usually coiled on
the deck of a ship. The tail with its horny appendage
protruded beneath, and the flat head peeped over
above, resting upon the uppermost ring of the body.
The nictitating membrane was drawn over its eyes.
It appeared to sleep. This I thought strange, as I
had heard that the fascinating power of these crea-
tures lay in the eyes. It soon became evident, how-
\



248
THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
felt certain, then, that he was waiting for the descent
of the squirrel; and desirous to see what should
happen, I muttered some words of caution to my
companions, who remained silent as before.
"We sat watching the hole, expecting every mo-
ment to see the squirrel come forth. At length,
the little rat-shaped head peeped cautiously out; but
in this position the animal remained, and did not
seem inclined to trust itself beyond the mouth of its
den. It was evidently observing us—which it could
easily do from its elevated position — and was not
intending to come down.
"We were about giving up all hopes of witnessing
a 'scene,' when our attention was drawn to a rustling
among the dead leaves in the woods beyond. We
looked in that direction. A squirrel was running
toward the tree. It was running at full speed,—
now along the fallen logs, now through the grass
and dry leaves—apparently pursued. It was pur-
sued; for almost at the same instant its pursuer
came in sight — an animal with a long, slender body,
twice the length of the squirrel itself, and of a bright
yellow colour. It was the pine-weasel.
"There were not twenty feet between them as
they ran, and both were doing their best.


THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
219
"I cast a glance at the rattlesnake. He knew
what was coming. His jaws were extended — the
lower one drawn back until it touched his throat,—
his poisoned fangs were naked and visible; his
tongue was protruded forward; his eyes glanced like
diamonds; and his whole body rose and fell as with
a quick respiration. He seemed to have dilated him-
self to twice his natural size.
"The squirrel, looking only behind, ran for the
tree, and, like a streak of light, passed along the
ridge and upward. We saw the snake launch out his
head as the other passed him; but so quick had been
the action, that it did not seem that he had even
touched it.
"' Good!' thought we, as we saw the squirrel
sweep up the trunk, and fancied that it was safe.
Before it had reached the first fork, however, we
observed that it climbed more slowly— then faltered
— then stopped altogether. Its hind feet slipped
from the bark; its body oscillated a moment, hang-
ing by the fore-claws, and then dropped heavily back
into the very jaws of the serpent!
"The weasel, on seeing the snake, had suddenly
stopped a few feet from it, and now ran around, dou-
bling its long, worm-like body, and occasionally stand-


250 THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
ing erect,—all the while spitting and snarling like an
angry cat. It was evidently furious at being robbed
of its prey; and we thought for awhile it was going
to give battle to the snake. The latter had re coiled
himself on seeing this enemy, and lay with open jaws
awaiting the attack. The body of the squirrel—now
quite dead—was close up to his coil, so that the
other could not snatch it without coming within
reach of his dangerous fangs.
"On seeing this, and evidently afraid to encounter
such a terrible antagonist, the weasel, after a while,
ceased its hostile demonstrations; and, turning to
one side, bounded off into the woods.
"The reptile now leisurely uncoiled the upper
half of his body; and, stretching out his neck toward
the squirrel, prepared to swallow it. He drew the
latter out to its full length along the ground, so that
its head lay towards him. This he purposed to swal-
low first — in order to take the animal 'with the
grain'—and he now commenced lubricating it with
the saliva that ran from his forked tongue.
"While we sat watching this curious operation, our
attention was attracted to a movement in the leaves
above the spot where the snake lay. Directly over
him, at a height of twenty or more feet, a huge


THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
251
liana, of the trumpet species, stretched across from
tree to tree. It was full as thick as a man's arm,
and covered with green leaves and large crimson
cuneiform blossoms, such as belonged to itself. There
were other blossoms mingling with these, for still
other parasites—smaller ones—were twined around
it, and we could distinguish the beautiful star-like
flowers of the cypress vine. Among these an object
was in motion—a living object—a body—the body
of a great snake, nearly as thick as the liana
itself.
"Another rattlesnake! No; the rattlesnake is
not a tree-climber,—it could not be that. Besides,
the colour of the one upon the vine was entirely
different. It was of a uniform black all over—
smooth and glittering. It was the black snake then
— the ' constrictor' of the north.
"When we first noticed it, it was wound upon the
liana in spiral rings, like the worm of a gigantic
screw. We saw that it "was slowly gliding down-
ward—for the vine tended diagonally from tree to
tree, and its lowest end impinged upon the trunk of
the magnolia, about twenty feet from the ground.
"On reaching this point, the snake gradually
drew its rings closer together — until they appeared


252
THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
to touch each other, lapping the liana. It then com-
menced unwinding itself, by the head, which was
slowly circled backward around the vine—still, how-
ever, creasing closely along it. After a sufficient
number of evolutions, the rings had completely dis-
appeared—with the exception of one or two near the
tail—and the reptile lay doubled along the liana.
These manoeuvres it had executed silently and with
great caution; and it now seemed to pause, and
survey what was going on below.
"During all this while, the rattlesnake had been
busily engaged with the squirrel, and thought of
nothing else. After licking the latter to his satisfac-
tion, he extended his purple jaws, drew in the head
of his victim, and, stretching his long body to its full
extent, proceeded to swallow it, tail and all. In a
few seconds, the head and shoulders of the squirrel
had disappeared.
"But the glutton was suddenly interrupted in his
meal; for, at this moment, we observed the black
snake gradually lower himself from the liana, until
nothing remained upon the tree but a single loop of
his prehensile tail; and his long body stretching
downward, hung directly over the other.
"' Sureiy,' thought we, 'he is not going to en-


THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES. , 253
counter the rattlesnake—the most terrible of all
reptiles.' But the constrictor understood one chap-
ter of herpetology better than we — for the next mo-
ment we saw him drop to the ground; and, almost
as quick as thought, he appeared, lapped in sable
folds, around the speckled body of the ' crotalus!'
"It was a singular sight to see those two creatures
writhing and wriggling over the grass; and it was
some time before we could tell how they battled with
each other. There was no great difference between
them, in point of size. The black snake was longer—
by a foot or so—but much more slender in the body,
than his antagonist. He possessed, however, an ad-
vantage that soon made itself apparent—his activity,
which was ten times that of the rattlesnake. We saw
that he could easily evolve or wind himself at plea-
sure around the body of the latter, each time com-
pressing him with those muscular powers which have
entitled him to his name—' constrictor.' At each
fresh embrace, the body of the 'crotalus' appeared to
writhe and contract under the crushing influence of
his sable adversary.
"' The rattlesnake had but one weapon, which he
could have employed with effect—his fangs. These
were already locked in the body of the squirrel, and


254 THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
he could not use them upon his adversary. He
could not get rid of that hairy morsel, that, lite a
barbed arrow, now stuck in his throat. We could
see that the squirrel still remained there, for, as
the two reptiles struggled over the grass, its bushy
tail was seen waving in the midst of their tortuous
contest.
"At length, the battle began to flag. The mo-
tions of both combatants waxed slower and slower.
We could now see how they fought. We could see
—strange it appeared to us—that, instead of battling
head to head—face to face—the fangs of the ' con-
strictor' were buried in the rattles of the ' crotalus!'
Stranger still, the tail of the former rose and fell
with a muscular and powerful impetus, whipping the
latter to death!
"The contest was soon ended. The rattlesnake lay
stretched at full length — evidently dead; while the
black constrictor still continued to hug the speckled
body, as though it was an object to be loved. This
lasted for a moment or so; and then slowly unwinding
itself, the conqueror turned round, crept through the
grass, and proceeded to appropriate the prey. The
'scene' was over, and we all leaped to our feet to
enact the finale.


THE BATTLE OF THE SNAKES.
"I should have spared the constrictor, after the
good service he had done in destroying the rattle-
snake; but Cudjo, who hated all sorts of creeping
things, was ahead of me; and, before I could come
up, I beheld the victor suspended upon his spear!


256
THE SUGAR-TREE.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE SUGAR-TREE.
"In the evening, we returned to our house, carrying
with us, on the back of Pompo, a good-sized bag of
salt. We had evaporated enough to cure our veni-
son, and to last us for several weeks to come. When
it should be used up, we knew where to go for more.
There was no danger of the spring going dry. We
had noticed, previous to the discovery of the salt
creek, that the water of the lake was perceptibly
brackish; but we had never reflected on the cause.
Doubtless, this fact had prevented us from yearning
—as we might otherwise have done—for the valuable
substance we had now obtained in such plenty.
"That night, after we had finished eating our
suppers, Harry, who had been all the day burning
with curiosity to know what was the important dis-


THE SUGAR-TREE.
"' Well, then,' said she, 'my discovery is this.
While we were going up the valley this morning, I
saw at some distance over the woods the top leaves
of a very beautiful and very valuable tree.'
"' A tree!' cried Harry; 'what! a cocoa-nut?'
"' No.'
"' A bread-fruit, maybe?'
"' No.'
"' Orange, then?'
"' No, Harry,' replied his mother. 'You must
know we are not in that latitude. We are too far
north for either bread-fruits, orange-trees, or cocoa-
nut palms.'
"'Ah!' exclaimed Harry, with a sigh, 'those
three are the only trees I care a fig for.'
"' How, now, if it were a fig-tree, since you speak
of figs?'
"'Oh! very well,' replied Harry, 'figs will
do; but I would rather it had been one of the
others.'
"' But it is not even a fig-tree.'
"' Oh! it is not. What then, mamma?'
"' That of which I speak is a tree of the temper-
ate zone; and, in fact, grows to greatest perfection in
the coldest parts of it. Have you noticed any tall


THE SUGAR-TREE.
259
straight trees, with thick foliage of a bright red
colour?'
"' Yes, mamma,' answered Frank; 'I have. I know
a part of the valley where there are many of them—
some of them nearly crimson, while others are orange-
coloured.'
"' That is the tree of which I speak. The leaves
are now of those colours because . it is autumn.
Earlier in the season they were of a bright green
above, and whitish, or, as it is termed, glaucous, on
the under surface.'
"' Oh !' said Harry, seemingly disappointed with
this information. 'I have noticed them, too. They
are very beautiful trees, it is true; but then'
"' Then, what?'
"' They are of no use to us—such big trees as
they are. There is no fruit upon them, for I looked
carefully; and what then? We do not need their
timber, I'm sure. We have as good timber as we
want in these tulip-trees.'
"' Come, Master Hal—not so fast, if you please.
There are many parts of a tree which may serve for
valuable uses besides its fruit, or its timber either.'
"' What! the leaves?' inquired the impatient
Harry. 'What use can we make of leaves?'


260
THE SUGAR-TREE.
"' Come, master,' said Frank, in an improving
tone; 'the leaves of some trees are very valuable.
What think you of the tea-plant, for instance?'
"Harry felt rebuked, and remained silent.
"' We can make no use of the leaves of this tree,'
continued his mother; 'at least none that I am
aware of.'
"' The bark, then ?' interrogated Harry.
"' No—not the bark either."
* "'The roots?'
"' I know of no peculiar virtue in its roots more
than those of the oak, ash, or any other large timber
trees.'
"' What then, mamma? It has no flowers, I am
sure; nor fruit neither, except little seeds with wings
upon them like a spider-fly.'
"' Those are its fruit.'
"' Oh ! what use could we make of them? I have
seen just the same, or very like them, growing on the
common sycamore-tree.'
"' You are right there, for the common sycamore,
as you call it, is a tree of the same family. But I
did not say we could make any use of these winged
seeds. Can you think of nothing else that belongs
to every tree?'


THE SUGAR-TREE.
263
shall be able to draw as much from ours as will
supply us until spring comes round again.'
"' But, mamma,' broke in the inquisitive Harry,
'when and how shall we get the sap?'
"' I suppose, Harry, you wish for separate answers
to these two questions which you have put so closely
together. Well, then—our best time to draw it will
be after the very first frost which makes its appear-
ance. It has been found that the sap runs best
when the nights are clear and cold, and the days dry
and warm.
"' The manner of extracting the sap, and the pro-
cess of making the sugar, are both very simple. In
the first place, we must make a great many little
troughs—one for every tree we intend to tap. These
are used to supply the place of vessels, which of
course we have not got. The fanners of the
United States, who make maple-sugar, also use these
troughs—as they will often have several hundred
trees running at the same time, and it would be
rather expensive for a backwoodsman to supply
himself with so many vessels from either the potter,
the tinman, or the cooper. But the troughs, which
are easily made, answer the purpose just as well; and
Cudjo here is able to make them for us.


THE SUGAR-TREE.
"' After the troughs nothing more is needed,
except a few joints of the cane which grows all
around us. An auger-hole must be bored in each of
the trees, about three feet from the ground. Into
each of these holes a single tube of cane must be
inserted, simply to form a spout that may con-
duct the running sap into the troughs below. We
shall then have nothing farther to do, but wait while
the sap gathers in the troughs, collect it into our
kettle, and boil it over the fire in the same manner
as we did the salt.
"' Now, Master Harry,' concluded my wife, 'be
patient. Hope for an early frost, and you shall have
a practical illustration of all these things.'
"Harry had not long to wait. Upon the third
night after, a slight hoar-frost covered the ground,
and the day following was bright and warm. This
was the very time to tap the maples, and so we set
about it.
"Cudjo had already prepared the troughs—more
than twenty of them in all. These he made in
the usual manner. He cut the trunks of several
tulip-trees—those that were about twelve inches in
diameter—into logs of three feet each. These logs
he split into two equal parts, and hollowed out the


THE SUGAR-TREE.
265
split sides with his chisel and mallet—thus forming
a rude vessel, but quite good enough for the purpose
of holding the sap. The cane tubes were also ready;
and proceeding to the trees—all of us together—we
bored a hole in each with our auger, fitted in the cane
joints, and propped the troughs underneath. In a
short time the crystal liquid began to drip from the
end of the spouts, and then it ran faster and faster,
until a small clear stream fell into the troughs. The
first that issued forth we caught in our cups, as the
sugar-water is most delicious to drink; and it seemed
as if our little people, particularly Mary and Luisa,
would never say ' enough.' Harry, too, was as fond
of it as they; and was heard to declare that the sugar-
maple was the finest tree of the forest, and quite a
match for either bread-fruits, oranges, or cocoa-palms.
We had brought the large kettle, and a fire was soon
kindled, and a crane erected—just as we had done
when making our salt. In a few hours the kettle
was filled with sap, and boiling over the fire.
"Each of us had now our separate duty to perform.
Cudjo, with his bucket, went from tree to tree, col-
lecting the sap as it gathered in the troughs, while
Mary and I kept up the fire, and looked to the
ladling. When a kettle of the water was sufficiently


266
THE SUGAH-THEE.
boiled down, it was necessary to pour it out into small
vessels, that the sugar might crystallize by cooling.
For this purpose we used all our plates, dishes, and
cups. As soon as it cooled it became hard as a brick,
and of a very dark colour. It was then removed from
the small vessels, and a fresh quantity poured into
them. That part of the sap which would not crystal-
lize was carefully strained from the vessels, and
became molasses; and these, let me tell you, are
much finer than the molasses that are made from the
sugar-cane—much richer in colour, and pleasanter
to the palate.
"Frank and Harry had their part to perform—
which was to walk about, rifle in hand, and guard the
troughs. This was an important matter, for it is a sin-
gular fact that wolves, raccoons, badgers, opossums,
and, in short, every animal wild or tame, will drink
the sap of the sugar-maple, and are so fond of it
that they will risk their lives to get at it. As
the trees we had opened stood at a considerable dis-
tance from each other, our two little sentries were
kept constantly relieving one another upon their
rounds.
"The sap continued to run for several days; and,
of course, we were kept busy during all that time.


THE 8UGAR-TREE. 267
Had it been in the spring-time, we should have been
employed for weeks at it, as it then runs longer and
more freely. We were favoured with a smart frost
every night, which was a fortunate circumstance, as
the water did not gather during the cold hours of the
night—otherwise we should have found it impossible
to guard the wild animals from our troughs.
"All these nights we slept by the fire, where we had
made a regular camp, as is usual in the backwoods of
America. We only went to the house when it was
necessary to get some article that was needed. We
had put up a little tent, made out of our old wagon-
tilt, to cover us; and the place we called by the name
which is in use among the backwoods farmers—that
is to say, a ' sugar camp.' We found this out-of-door
life very exciting and agreeable, camping thus in
the thick shady woods with the great majestic trees
towering around us—listening at times to the light
breeze, as it rustled their golden leaves—or lulled into
a pleasing tranquillity by the songs of a thousand
birds. At night, however, the music was not so sweet
to our ears. Then we heard the barking of wolves,
the mournful 'coo-whoo-a' of the great horned owl,
and the still more terrifying scream of the cougar.
But we kept up a crackling, blazing fire all the night,



The Storehouse of Sugar-Maples.
P. 208


Tnt h&*> YORC
PUBLIC LIBRARY
A8TOK. L1JOX
T1JLDBN yOUNDATIOJf*


THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE.
269
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE.
"That evening, as we sat around the supper table, my
wife announced that the last grain of our coffee was
in the pot. This was sad news to all of us. Of the
little luxuries, that we had brought with us from St.
Louis, our coffee had held out longest; and a cup of
this aromatic beverage had often cheered us during
our toilsome journey across the prairie desert. Often,
too, since our arrival in the valley, had it given a
relish to our homely meal.
"'Well, then,' said I, by way of reply to the an-
nouncement, ' we must learn to do without it. We
have now the materials for making soup; what care
we for coffee? How many poor people would be glad
to be surrounded with luxuries, as we are! Here we
have venison of different kinds; we can have beavers'
tails whenever we want them. There are fish, too,


270 THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE.
in the lake and stream; there are hares and squirrels,
which we shall trap in abundance, by-and-by; and,
in addition to all, we shall dine often upon ruffed
grouse and roast turkey. I wonder, with all these
luxuries around us who is not content.'
"'But, papa,' said Harry, taking up the discourse,
'in Virginia I have often seen our black folks make
coffee out of Indian corn. It is not bad, I assure
you. I have drunk it there, and thought it very good.
Have not you, Cudjo?'
"'Dat berry coffee dis chile hab drunk, Massa
Harry.'
"' Now, papa?'
"'Well, Harry, what of it?'
"' Why should we not use that—the Indian corn,
I mean—for coffee?'
"'Why, Harry,' said I, ' you surely do not reflect
upon what you are talking about. We have a far
worse want than coffee, and that is this very Indian
corn to make bread of. Could I only get a supply
of that, I should think very little about coffee or any
other beverage. Unfortunately there is not a grain
of corn within many an hundred miles of where we
are now sitting.'
"' But there is, papa; I know where there is at


THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE. 271
least a quart of it; and within less than an hundred
yards of us, too.'
"'Come,' said I, 'my boy, you have mistaken
some useless seed for corn. No corn grows in this
valley, I am certain.'
"' It did not grow in this valley. It has travelled
all the way from St. Louis along with us. It is now
in the wagon.'
"' What! corn in the wagon?' I exclaimed, start-
ing up with such vehemence as to frighten my chil-
dren. 'Are you sure of that, Harry?'
"' I saw it this very morning in one of the old
■ hags,' replied he.
"' Come!' cried I; 'get a torch, Cudjo. To the
■wagon!—to the wagon!'
"In a short time we had reached the wagon,
which stood close to the door. With a beating heart
I climbed into it. There was an old worn-out
huffalo robe, with the harness of the ox lying upon
the bottom. I flung these aside, and underneath I
saw a coarse gunny-bag, such as are used in the
Western States for holding Indian corn. I knew
that it was one of those we had brought with us from
St. Louis, containing corn for our horse and oxen;
hut I was under the impression lhat I had emptied


272 THE STUMF-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE.
out the last of it long before. I took the bag up,
and, to my inexpressible delight, found that it still
contained a small quantity of the precious grain;
besides, there was still more of it, that had been
spilled from time to time, and had got into the cor-
ners and cracks of the wagon. These we collected
carefully and put with the rest—not leaving a single
grain that we did not scrape out from the cracks.
Then carrying my bag into the house, I turned out
its contents upon the table. To our great joy there
was, as Harry had affirmed, nearly a quart of the
golden grain!
"' Now,' said I, ' we shall have bread!'
"This was a glad sight to my wife. During the
preceding days we had frequently talked upon this
subject—the want of bread—which is one of our first
necessities. We lived in hope that we should find
some species of cereal in the valley that would
supply us with a substitute for bread; but up to that
time nothing of the kind had appeared. We had
gathered the mast from the beech-tree and roasted
it. We had collected quantities of locust-pods and
acorns. We had also eaten the pulpy fruit of the
pawpaw; but all these together we found to be but
poor apologies for real bread. This, then, was a


THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE. 273
discovery of greater importance to us than either the
salt or the sugar. i
"The winter, in the latitude of our valley, would
he a short one. We could then plant the corn—there
was enough of it to plant a whole acre. It would
come to maturity in six or eight weeks; and we knew
that in such a climate we could easily raise two crops
in the year—so that before the next winter came
round we should have enough and to spare.
"While we stood by the table talking over these
pleasant prospects, one of the boys—Frank it was—
suddenly shouted out, ' Wheat! wheat!'
"I looked down to ascertain what he meant. He
had been turning over the yellow seeds of the maize,
and, among them, had discovered several grains of
wheat. No doubt there had been wheat in the bag
before the corn had been put into it, and this was
soon confirmed, as, on carefully searching the bag, we
found several of the precious pickles still clinging
between the seams. After separating the one species
from the other with great carefulness—for we did not
wish to lose a single seed—we found that our grains
of wheat counted exactly one hundred! This, to be
sure, was a small quantity to go a farming with, but
we remembered the old saying, 'Great oaks grow
E


274 THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BHEAD-PINE.
from little acorns,' and we knew the importance of
these small grey seeds. In a couple of years we
should have large crops of wheat.
"'You see,' said I, addressing my little family,
'how kind Providence has heen to us. Here, in
the middle of the desert, has He furnished us with
all the necessaries of life; and now, with a little
patience, we may promise ourselves many of its
luxuries—for what can mamma not make out of flour
and sugar?'
"' Oh, everything!' cried Frank, who had grown
enthusiastic at the prospect of farming, for he was
fond of agricultural pursuits; 'we can have venison-
pasties with our flour.'
"' And fruit-pies,' added Harry; 'there are plenty
of fruits. I have found wild plums, and cherries, and
mulberries as long as my finger, and whortle-berries,
too. What delicious puddings we can make!'
"'Yes,' said I; 'now shall we care for coffee?'
"'No, no !' cried Frank and Harry in a breath.
"' Then you shall have it,' said their mother, with
a smile of peculiar meaning.
"'What! mother?' exclaimed Harry, 'another
tree?'
"' Yes, indeed, another.'


THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE. 275
"' Not a coffee-plant?'
"'No; but a coffee-tree.'
"'A coffee-tree ! why I thought, mamma, that they
never grew, except in the hottest parts of the tropics.'
"' That is true enough of the small tree or shrub
which produces the coffee you have been accustomed
to drink; but not far from us there is a very large
tree, whose seed will give us a very palatable substi-
tute. Here is a specimen of it.'
"So saying, she threw down upon the table a large
brown pod—of at least twelve inches in length by
two in breadth—exactly the shape of a crescent or
young moon. It reminded us of the pods of the
locust, though differing considerably in shape. Like
them, too, when opened—which was forthwith done
—it was seen to contain a pulpy substance, in which
several large grey-coloured seeds were imbedded.
These seeds, she informed us, when parched, ground,
and boiled—after the manner of the true coffee—
would afford us a beverage nearly as good and quite
as wholesome.
"' The tree,' said she, 'from which I have plucked
this pod, grows in most parts of America. You may-
have observed it here?'
"' I have,' interrupted Harry. 'Now that mamma


276 THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE.
has shown us the use of the maples, I have heen
looking particularly at all the trees; since I find
that some of them that appeared scarce worthy of
notice, may after all be very interesting.'
"' I have observed the tree,' added Frank, who
was something of a botanist as well as his mother;
'I noticed that its bark is very rough, dropping off
here and there in large curling scales. The branches,
too, are very odd-looking; they have blunt, stumpy
ends, that give the tree a clumsy appearance. Is it
not so, mamma?'
"' Precisely as you say. Hence its name of ' chi-
cot' among the Canadian French, and 'stump-tree'
in the United States. Its botanical name is gym-
nocladus, which means, 'with naked branches;' for
during the winter, as you shall find, it will present a
very naked appearance. It is also known as the
'Kentucky coffee-tree,' because the early pioneers
and settlers of that country, when they were unable
to obtain the true coffee, made use of its seeds, as
we intend doing.'
"' Oh!' cried Harry; 'only think of it—sugar,
and coffee, and salt, and plenty of meat, and roast
turkey—everything but bread. If we only had bread!
Would our corn not grow if we planted it now, papa?'


THE STDMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE. 277
"' No; the frost would kill the young plants. We
must have patience until spring.'
"' It is a long time till spring,' said Harry, with
rather a discontented air; 'and then we must wait
much longer while the corn is growing. It is a very
long time to wait.'
"' Come, Master Hal,' rejoined his mother, 'I fear
you are one of those who cannot be satisfied, no
matter how many blessings are heaped upon them.
Remember how many are worse off than yourself—
how many are without bread, even where it is plen-
tiest. No doubt, at this moment many a hungry boy
in the streets of wealthy London is standing by the
baker's window, and gazing at the crisp loaves, with,
no more chance to eat one of them than you have.
He is worse off than you. You have other food—
plenty of it—he has none; and, moreover, his hunger
is rendered more acute and painful by the sight of
the tempting food—separated from his hand only by
a pane of glass. Poor boy! that pane of glass is to
him a wall of adamant. Think upon this, my son,
and learn to be contented.'
"' Indeed, I am so, mamma,' replied Harry, with a
look of contrition. 'I did not mean to complain


278 THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE.
I was only thinking how nice it would be to have
bread, now that we have got both sugar and
coffee.'
"' Ah! now, my good Harry,' said his mother,
'since I find you in the proper spirit, I think I must
tell you about another curious and useful tree, of
which, perhaps, you have not heard.'
"' A bread-fruit now, I'm sure? No, it cannot
be that; for I have heard of the bread-fruit.'
"' Still, it might very appropriately be called a
bread-fruit, since, during the long winter months, it
furnishes bread to many tribes of Indians; indeed,
not bread alone, but subsistence—as it is the only
food these improvident people have.'
'"Iam sure I have never heard of that tree.'
"' Well, I imagine not, as it is not long since it
was discovered and described by botanists; and even
now it is but imperfectly known to them. It is a pine.'
"' What! a pine with fruit?'
"' Did you ever see a pine without it—that is, in
the proper season?'
"' Then you call those cone-shaped things fruit?'
"' Certainly; what else should they be?'
"' Oh! I thought those were the seed.'


280 THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE.
pleasant to the taste, and wholesome as an article
of food.'
"' What pines, mamma?'
"' Several species are known. Several new ones
have been discovered of late years, and in this very
Desert. Perhaps in no part of the world is found a
greater variety of these valuable trees, than in the
mountainous countries which border upon and he
within the Great American Desert. There is one
species in California called 'Colorado' by the Span-
iards—which means red, because their wood, when
sawed up, is of a reddish colour. Trees of this kind
are the largest in the world; they are often over 300
feet in height! Only think of a tree 300 feet high,
when the tallest we saw in the Mississippi Valley
was not much over half that. Yet there are whole
forests of these upon the mountains of the Sierra
Nevada. There is another species almost as large
on these same mountains. It has been called by
botanists pinus Lambertiana. It is more remark-
able, however, for the size of its cones, which are of
the enormous length of eighteen inches—a foot and
a half! Fancy how singular a sight it must be—
one of these gigantic trees with cones hanging from
its branches larger than sugar-loaves!'


THE 8TUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE. 281
"' Oh, beautiful indeed!' exclaimed Frank and
Harry at the same time.
"' But, mamma,' added Frank, 'are these the
sort that are eaten by the Indians?'
"' Their seeds are also fit to eat, and in times of
great distress the Indians and others resort to them
for food; but it is not of them I intended to speak.
It is of another kind very distinct from either, and
yet growing in the same region. It is a small tree,
rarely seen of more than thirty or forty feet in height,
and with leaves or needles of a much lighter green
than the generality of pines. Its cones are not
larger than those of the common sort; but the seed
or kernel is oily like the American walnut, and quite
as agreeable in flavour. They cannot be otherwise
than nutritious, since, as I have said, they form the
whole subsistence of many people for months in the
year. They can be eaten raw; but the Indians
usually roast them. When roasted or parched, and
then ground in a mill, or broken in a mortar, they
make a species of meal, which, though coarse in ap-
pearance, can be baked into sweet and wholesome
bread. This tree is called by the Mexicans ' pifion,'
and also by travellers the 'nut-pine.' The only
botanist who has fairly described it has given it the


282 THE STUMP-TREE AND THE BREAD-PINE.
name of pinus monophyllus. Perhaps as good a
name as any, and certainly the most appropriate — I
mean for its popular name—would be the 'bread-
pine.''
"' But, mamma, does this tree grow in our valley?
We have not seen it.'
"' Not in the valley, I think; but I have hopes
that we may find it on the mountain. The day we
came around the latter, I thought I saw a strange
species of pine growing up in the ravines. It might
be this very one; and I am the more inclined to think
so, as I have heard that it grows on the Rocky
Mountains—within the latitudes of New Mexico— and
also on all the sierras that lie between them and the
Pacific. I see no reason why we should not find it
upon our mountain, which is, no doubt, a sort of
outlying peak of the Rocky Mountains themselves.'
"' Oh ! then,' said Harry, 'shall we not go up to
the mountain, and see about it? An excursion to the
mountain would be so very pleasant. Don't you
think so, papa?'
"' I do, indeed,' I replied; 'and as soon as we
can make a cart for Pompo, so as to be able to take
mamma and the children along with us, we shall go
there.'


284
THE SNOW LINE.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE SNOW LINE.
"In three days the cart was finished. We had no
difficulty in constructing one, as the principal part—
that is, the wheels—was already made. We had
two pair of them, of course, in our old wagon; and
the larger ones, which happened to be in very good
order, served our purpose exactly. Cudjo soon at-
tached a body and shafts to them, and Pompo's har-
ness was put into thorough repair.
"We had not long to wait for a fine day. Every
day was fine in the clear, pure climate of our valley;
so that, as soon as the cart was ready, we had a day
to our liking. We set out shortly after sunrise, with
our hearts full of anticipated pleasure. Of course
we all went—Mary, the children, Cudjo, Pompo,
dogs, and all. The house was again left to take
care of itself.


THE SNOW LINE.
285
^ "Mary and the two little ones rode in the cart,
upon a soft seat made of palmetto leaves and Spanish
moss. Pompo, who appeared to partake of the
general happiness, whisked the vehicle along as if
there had heen nobody in it, and he was only draw
ing it for his own amusement. Cudjo cracked his
great wagon-whip, and every now and then uttered a
loud ' wo-ha ;' while Castor and Pollux gallopped gaily
from side to side, running their noses into every
bush that grew along the path.
"We soon made our way through the valley, and
climbed up to the plain. We looked once more upon
the Desert that stretched away on all sides; but its
dreary aspect no longer filled us with fear. We did
not regard it now, and the sight inspired us with
feelings of curiosity and novelty rather than of terror.
Away to the southward the sun was glancing upon
the broad expanse of white sand; and several tall
objects, like vast dun-coloured towers, were moving
over the plain. They were whirlwinds carrying the
dust upward to the blue sky, and spinning it from
point to point. Sometimes one glided away alone,
until it was lost on the distant horizon. Here two of
them were moving in the same direction, keeping a
regular distance from each other, and seemingly run-


286 THE SNOW LINE.
ning a race. There several came together; and, after^
a short gusty contest, the whole set would break up
into shapeless masses of yellowish clouds, and then
float onward with the wind, and downward to the
earth again. It was an interesting sight to view
those huge pillars towering up to the heavens, and
whirling like unearthly objects over the wide plain.
It was indeed an interesting sight, and we remained
for many minutes observing their motions.
"At length we turned our faces toward the moun-
tain, and continued our journey along the edge of
the cliffs. The 'high peak glistened before us, and
the sun's rays falling upon it caused it to appear of
a beautiful colour—a mixture of gold and red, as
though a shower of roses had fallen upon the snow!
We noticed that there was now more snow upon the
mountain than when we had first seen it, and that it
came farther down its sides. This attracted the
attention of all of us; and Frank at once called for
an explanation, which his mother volunteered to give,
for she very well understood the phenomenon.
"' In the first place,' said she, 'as you ascend
upward in the atmosphere, it becomes thinner and
colder. Beyond a certain point it is so cold, that
neither men nor any other animals can exist. This


THE SNOW LINE. 287
4
can be proved in several ways; and the experience of
those who have climbed mountains, only three miles
high, confirms it. Some of these adventurous men
have been nearly frozen to death. This is a fact,
then, in regard to the atmosphere over all parts of
the earth; but we may also observe, that near the
Equator you may go higher without reaching this
extreme cold, than in the countries which lie nearer
to the Poles. Another fact, which you will easily
believe, is, that in summer you can climb higher
before you reach the cold region than in winter.
Bear these facts in mind. Now, then, if it be so cold
at a certain height that men would be frozen to
death, of course at that height snow will not melt.
What is the natural inference? Why—that mountains
whose tops pierce up into this cold region will most
certainly be covered with perpetual snow. It is not
likely that anything but snow ever falls upon their
summits,—for when it rains upon the plains around
them, it is snowing upon the high peaks above. In-
deed, it is probable that most of the rain which de-
scends upon the earth has been crystals of snow when
it commenced its descent; and, afterwards melting
in the lower and warmer regions of the atmosphere,
takes the shape of water globules, and thus falls to


288 THE SNOW LINE.
m
the ground. These globules, no doubt, are very
small when they first emerge from the snow region;
but, as they pass slowly downward through clouds of
vapour, they gather together and attract others (by a
law which I have not time to explain); and, descend-
ing faster and faster, at length plash down to the
earth in large drops. Whenever it rains, then, at
any particular place, you may be almost certain that
it is snowing at the same time over that place—only
at a point in the atmosphere far above it. I have
been convinced of this fact, by observing that imme-
diately after every occasion when it has rained in the
valley, there appeared a greater quantity of snow
upon the mountain. Had the mountain not been
there, this snow would have continued on, and be-
come rain, like that which fell upon the plains, and
into the valley.'
"' Then, mamma,' interrupted Frank,' this moun-
tain must be of great height, since the snow lies
upon it all the year.'
"' Does that follow?'
"' I think so. You said the snow did not melt
because it was cold high up.'
"' But suppose you were in a country near the
North Pole, where snow lies all the year at the very


THE SNOW LINE.
289
sea-side, and consequently at the sea-level, would it
then prove a mountain to be very high?'
"' Oh! I see — I see now. The perpetual snow
upon a mountain only shows it to be of great height
when the mountain happens to be in warm latitudes.'
"' Precisely so. In very warm countries, such as
those within the tropics, when you see the snow-cap
upon a mountain, you may infer that it is a very high
one—at least over two miles in height; and when
there is much snow upon it—that is, when the snow
reaches far down its sides—it proves the mountain to
be still higher,—three miles or more above the level
of the ocean.'
"' Our mountain, then, must be a high one, since
it is in a warm latitude, and snow lies all the year
upon it.'
"' It is a high one, comparatively speaking; but
you will remember, when we first saw it, there was
only a small patch of snow upon its top, and probably
in very hot summers that disappears altogether; so
that it is not so high as many others upon this con-
tinent. Taking our latitude into calculation, and the
quantity of snow which lies upon this mountain, I
should say it was about 14,000 feet.'
"' Oh! so much as that! It does not seem half
u


290
THE SNOW LINE.
so high. I have seen mountains that appeared to me
to be quite as high as it, and yet it was said they
did not measure the half of 14,000 feet.'
"' That arises from the fact that you are not
viewing this one from the sea-level, as you did them.
The plain upon which it stands, and from which we
view it, is of itself elevated nearly half as much.
You must remember that we are upon one of the
high tables of the American continent.'
"Here, for a minute or so, the conversation stop-
ped; and we travelled on in silence, all of us with
our eyes fixed on the white and roseate peak that
glittered before us, leading our eyes far up into the
heavens.
"Frank again resumed the discourse, which had
been broken off by our admiration of this beautiful
object.
"' Is it not curious,' said he, 'that the snow
should lie so regularly, coming down on all sides to
the same height, and ending just like the cape of a
coat or the hem of a nightcap? It seems to be a
straight fine all around the mountain.'
"' That line,' rejoined his mother, ' is, as you say,
a curious phenomenon, and caused by the laws of
heat and cold, which we have just been explaining.


THE SNOW LINE.
291
It is called the 'snow-line,' and a good deal of
speculation has arisen among cosmographers about
the elevation of this line. Of course, on mountains
within the tropics this line will be at a great height
above the level of the sea. As you advance north-
ward or southward to the Poles, it will be found
lower and lower, until within the frigid zones it may
be said to cease altogether—for there, as we have
said, snow covers the whole earth, and there can be
no ' snow-line.'
"' From this, one would suppose that an exact
scale might be formed, giving the elevation of the
snow-line for all latitudes. But that could not be
done. Observation has shown that it not only differs
on mountains that lie in the same latitude, but that
on the same mountain it is often higher on one side
than the other—particularly on those of great extent,
as the Himmalehs of India. This is all quite
natural, and easily accounted for. The position of
mountains to one another, and their proximity or
great distance from the sea, will give them a colder
or warmer atmosphere, independent of latitude.
Moreover, the same mountain may have a warmer
climate on one side than the other; and of course the
snow line will be higher on that side which is the


a92
TfiE SXOW LINE.
warmer, in consequence of the greater melting of the
snow. This line, too, varies in summer and winter
for a like reason—as we see here upon our own
mountain, where it has already descended several
feet since the weather has hecome colder. This,
you will acknowledge, is all very plain; and you
will see, too, that Nature, although apparently
capricious in many of her operations, acts most regu-
larly in this one, as perhaps in all others.'
"' But, mamma,' inquired Harry, 'can we not
get to the top of the mountain? I should like to
have some snow to make snow-balls, and pelt Frank
with them.'
"' It would be a very difficult task, Master Hal;
and more than either you or I could get through
with. I think Frank will escape being snow-balled
this time.'
"' But people have climbed to the top of the
Himmaleh mountains; and they are far higher than
this, I am sure.'
"' Never,' interrupted Frank; 'no one has ever
climbed the Himmalehs. Have they, mamma?'
"' No mortal has ever been so high as the sum-
mits of those great mountains, which are more than
five miles above the level of the ocean. Even could


THE SNOW LINE.
293
they be climbed, it is not likely that any animal
could live at their top. These inaccessible things
seem to have been designed by the Creator to afford
us objects for sublime contemplation—objects far
above the reach of mortal man, and that can never
be rendered common by his contact. Do they not
seem so?'
"We had now reached the foot of the mountain,
and halting near the entrance of the ravine, we
loosed Pompo from his cart, and rested ourselves
on the banks of the little stream. After a while we
commenced ascending up into the defile in search of
the pinons. As we advanced, Mary pointed out the
trees which she had noticed on a former occasion.
They appeared of a light green colour, much lighter
than others that grew near them. We made towards
one which stood apart, and was most accessible to
us. This we hoped might prove to be the bread
pine-tree; and we approached it with feelings of
anxiety and expectation.
"In a short time we were under its branches, and
if we had had no other test than what we saw there,
combined with the delicious fragrance of the tree,
we could have told that it could be no other than the
pifion. The ground was covered with cones, each of


294
THE SNOW LINE.
them about an inch and a half in length; but on
examining them, we found them all broken open and
the seed extracted. Some animal had been there
before us, and relished their contents—thus affording
a proof that they were good to eat. There were still
many of the cones hanging on the tree; and it was
not long until we had split some of them open and
tasted their ripe seeds.
"' It is it!' cried my wife, clapping her hands
with delight. 'It is the nut-pine! This will serve
for bread until we can grow our wheat and corn.
Come, let us gather them,' added she, pointing to a
large grove of the same trees that grew at a short
distance; and we all hurried to the grove and com-
menced shaking down the cones and gathering them
into heaps.
"We had soon collected as many as we wanted,
and in the evening we returned to the valley,
with our little cart half-full of pine-nuts. On
reaching home, these were parched and pounded
into a sort of coarse meal; and that night, for the
first time during many weeks, we had cakes to our
supper.


THE MENAGERIE, AVIARY, ETC. 295
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE MENAGERIE, AVIARY, AND BOTANIC GARDEN.
"We were busy of course every day, as we had
plenty of work to do. We laid a floor in our cabin,
and fenced a couple of fields—one to plant our corn
in, and the other to keep Pompo from straying off
into the woods, and meeting with some animal that
might feel inclined to devour him. We also suc-
ceeded in killing several red deer and a couple of
elk, which we stored up for our winter provision.
We did not find the black-tails very palatable,
and most of their flesh went to feed Castor and
Pollux.
"Cudjo was the busiest of all of us. He made
several household utensils which proved of great ser-
vice to us. He also constructed for himself a wooden
plough, which would serve every purpose—as there was
a considerable portion of the ground that was without


296
THE MENAGERIE, AVIARY,
turf, and could be easily turned. This part had
been covered with beautiful flowers, such as sun-
flowers, red and orange-coloured poppies, and ascle-
pias. It was almost a pity to plough them up.
"With an eye to the future scarcity of our am-
munition, we had begun to practise hunting with a
weapon which would answer all our purposes almost
as well as the rifle—still keeping the latter of course
for great occasions. We had found some of the bois
d'arc, or' Osage orange,' as it is called, growing in the
valley. This is the famous bow-wood of the Indians;
and taking a hint from these children of Nature, we
made three bows, stringing them—as the Indians do
—with the sinews of the deer. For arrows, we had
the straight cane reeds; and .Cudjo made us a set of
barbs out of iron spikes that we had taken from the
wagon. With daily practising at a mark, before the
winter was over, we were all three able to use our
new weapons to some purpose; and Harry, to his
mother's great delight, could bring down a squirrel
from the top of the highest tree in the valley. As
a marksman, both with the bow and rifle, he was
quite superior to Frank, who, instead of feeling
jealous, seemed rather to be proud of the skill of his
brother. Harry, during all the winter, kept our


298
THE MENAGERIE, AVIARY,
all the tubers we could fall in with, and kept them
for seed.
"Out of the pods of the honey-locust, we brewed
a very agreeable sort of beer; but we were able
to ektract a still more generous beverage from the
wild or fox-grapes that grew in all parts of the
valley. While travelling through France, I had
learnt how the wine was made; and our vintage
succeeded to perfection. On the winter nights,
as we sat around our cheerful log-fire, Mary was
accustomed to deal out to us a measure a-piece
of the exhilarating drink. It was only, however,
after a hard day's work or hunting, that we were
allowed to draw upon this precious store.
"About this time, a new idea entered into my
mind, which I communicated to the others, and
with which they all fully agreed. It was this :—To
capture as many of the wild animals as we could,
and endeavour to domesticate them to our uses. I
was prompted to this purpose by various considera-
tions. . First, because I saw, although there were
several kinds of deer in the valley, there were
but few of each kind; and it was not likely that
for many years they had been upon the increase.
Nature had so disposed it, that these creatures had


AND BOTANIC GARDEN.
299
been regularly thinned off every year by the
numerous beasts of prey that prowled through the
valley. Now, an additional enemy was added to the
number of their destroyers; and I foresaw that, unless
some precaution should be taken, the deer would
soon become so scarce and wild, that we should find
it difficult to obtain enough for our uses. Could we
only kill off the fierce beasts—such as panthers, and
wolves, and wolverenes—that preyed upon them, then
the whole valley would become our deer-park, and
the deer would soon increase to any number we
wanted. This, however, we could not do; and, in
fact, the beasts of prey were as likely to master us
as we them—for none of us were safe in venturing
into the thick woods alone; and whenever the boys
made a short excursion from the glade, their mother
was always in a state of anxiety until they returned.
In fact, every hunt we made was attended with con-
siderable danger, as we always fell in with the tracks
of wolves, panthers, and even bears; and we frequently
saw these animals skulking through the underwood.
We knew that in time our powder must run out,
and then our rifles would be useless to us. Our
bows and arrows would then avail us but little against
such thick-hided monsters as these. We only hoped


300
THE MENAGERIE, AVIARY,
that when we became better acquainted with the
habits of these carnivorous creatures, we should be
enabled to destroy them in traps, and thus thin
them off at our leisure, and without wasting our
ammunition. This, of course, would constitute a
branch of our employment; and, besides being a
work of utility, would furnish us with an excite-
ment not the less agreeable because it was hazardous.
Could we, therefore, collect a few of the more
useful animals into an enclosed park, they would
soon propagate and increase, and then the trouble
as well as danger which we experienced in hunt-
ing them would be at an end. We knew that
our maize-corn, yielding two crops in the year,
would enable us to supply them abundantly with
food.
"There was still another consideration which had its
weight in these plans. I was very fond of the study
of natural history—particularly that branch of it re-
lating to quadrupeds — and I foresaw the pleasure of
observing the habits of these wild creatures. We
should not, therefore, confine ourselves to making
'pets' of those animals that might merely serve us
for food. We should embrace in our collection all
that we could subject to our rule, whether gentle or


AND BOTANIC GARDEN.
301
fierce. In fact, it was our intention to establish a
regular ' menagerie of the Desert.'
"The main object of our industry and prospec-
tive wealth—that is, the collection of the beaver fur—
would not in any way interfere with these plans.
The beavers, in short, would give us very little
trouble — as the drying and preserving the skins of
those we should trap annually would only occupy us
a small portion of the year.
"Harry entered with more spirit into my designs
than any of the others; for Harry, like myself, was
fond of the quadrupeds. Frank, on the other hand,
was a great bird-catcher, and recommended that we
should include the birds in our menagerie. To this,
of course, we assented freely. Mary had her own
designs already shaped out; and these were, to gather
all the plants and trees that might be either curious
or useful, and to observe what effect cultivation would
produce upon them—in short, it was her wish to form
a complete 'botanical garden.'
"To each, then, was given a separate department.
Harry and I were designated ' beast-tamers ; ' Frank
the 'bird-tamer;' while Mary was appropriately
styled the 'tree-tamer.' To Cudjo was assigned a
very important share of the labour. He was to en-


302 THE MENAGERIE, AVIARY, ETC.
close the park for our deer, as well as the grounds for
the botanic garden. He was also to make our traps
and cages—all of which things Cudjo knew how to do,
and how to do them well. Of course, we were to
assist him, as well as each other, in carrying out our
designs.
"Thus, our plans for the future were interesting
to all of us. In our various pursuits, we should be
enabled to employ all our idle time. We had no
books, either to amuse or instruct us; but we knew
that we should derive both instruction and amuse-
ment from the study of the greatest of all books—
ilie book of Nature.


TRAPPING THE BEASTS AND BIRDS.
303
CHAPTER XXIX.
TRAPPING THE BEASTS AND BIRDS.
"Harry was the first who succeeded in making a
capture; and that was a pair of grey squirrels, which
he had trapped at the bottom of their tree. For these
a large cage was constructed, and they soon became
so tame that they would take the nuts provided for
them out of our hands. These, of course, were only
idle pets; but they added much to our company and
amusement, as we watched them in their antics
around the bars of their cage, now springing from
point to point, and now sitting monkey-like, and
gnawing the nuts as they held them between their
fore-paws.
"Shortly after this event, Frank became the hero
of the hour; and his achievement was one of consi-
derable importance. For some time, he had been
keeping his eye upon the wild turkeys; and for the


304 TRAPPING THE BEASTS AND BIRDS.
purpose of securing some of them alive, he had con-
structed, not far from the house, a species of penn—
which is known in America by the name of 'log-
trap.' This was a very simple contrivance. It was
made of split rails, such as Cudjo used for his fences;
and these were placed upon one another, so as to en-
close a hollow square between them. They were
raised ahout the height of an ordinary fence from the
ground, while other rails—heavy ones—were laid over
the top, close enough to prevent the turkeys, should
they enter, from escaping, hut not so near each
other as to darken the interior of the trap, and so
render it forbidding in its appearance. The entrance
was the main contrivance, although it was not an
original idea with Frank. It was upon a plan similar
to the wire cages used for trapping rats—where the
rat can easily find its way in, but has not sufficient
cunning to know the road out again. Precisely as
the wire funnel is constructed for the rats, Frank had
made one of rails for his turkeys; and waited patiently
until some of them should enter it. He placed
various kinds of seeds and roots within the enclosure;
but several days passed, and no birds were taken.
"After some practice, the 'bird-catcher' became
able to imitate the ' gobbling' of the old cocks so


trapping the beasts and birds. 305
exactly that at some distance off in the woods, you
could not tell but that it was one of themselves. By
this means, he could call the turkeys up to the ground
where he himself lay concealed; but the seeds he
had baited his trap with were not sufficiently enticing,
and none of them would go under the rails. At length,
however, he hit upon an expedient, which was sure
to succeed, if anything could. He had shot one of
the turkeys with his arrows; and taking it into the
trap, he carefully propped it up—so that it appeared
to be still alive, and busy feeding upon his bait.
He then retired to some distance; and, hiding himself
among the brushwood, 'gobbled' as before. Three
large birds soon made their appearance, coming cau-
tiously through the woods. Of course, like all wild
turkeys, they were upon the ground—stalking along
just like so many ostriches. At length, they came in
sight of the penn, and seeing one of their own kind—
quietly feeding, as they thought, within it—they ap-
proached fearlessly, and ran around the enclosure,
seeking for an entrance. Frank lay watching all
their movements; and his heart, at this moment,
was thumping against his ribs. His anxiety did not
long endure. The three great birds soon found the
wide funnel; and, without hesitating, ran up it, and
x


306 TRAPPING THE BEASTS AND BIRDS.
appeared inside the trap. Frank sprang from his
lurking-place; and, running forward, first shut up
the entrance by filling it with stones. Then climbing
upon the top, he slipped through between the rails;
and secured the birds by tying their legs together
with a stout thong of deerskin. When he had lifted
them out of the trap, he again adjusted everything—
leaving the ' decoy turkey' quietly feeding as before—
and shouldering his prize, he marched off in triumph.
His return to the house was greeted with exclama-
tions of joy; and a rail penn was immediately built
for the birds, similar to the trap in which they had
been caught, but, of course, without the funnel or
entrance. The only regret we had was, that the
three were all cocks—regular 'old gobblers.'
"Next day, however, Frank remedied this by
making a still more important capture. On return-
ing to visit his trap before sunrise, he saw from a dis-
tance that there was a live turkey inside, with a
number of smaller birds, which in the grey light
appeared like so many partridges. On getting nearer,
to his surprise and delight, he found that what he had
taken for partridges was a large brood of young tur-
keys, and that which he had first seen was their mother.
The little ones were running out and in, for they


808 TRAPPING THE BEASTS AND BIRDS.
we immediately hurried back to the house with them,
not forgetting to take along with us the ' decoy tur-
key '—which, being a fine fat fellow, and killed only
the day before, served us for a very good dinner.
For the turkey hen and young we built another penn,
near to that where we had imprisoned the three ' old
gobblers.' The one last constructed was made with
more care and closer between the rails, so that the
youngsters might not get out and wander off.
"Frank again baited his log-trap, and used for a
decoy one of the gobblers, which he tied by the leg
to a rail. In this way several others were caught;
when the birds at length became shy, and kept away
from the penn altogether. However, we had now as
many as we could feed, until our corn should ripen
and be gathered.
"From this time every day saw new additions to
our aviary. Frank had procured the bark of the ilex
opaca, or American holly; and this, when macerated
in water, and then fermented and cleared of its fibres,
made the very best of bird-lime. A large cage had
been constructed out of bow-wood with the straight
reeds of the cane, and divided into many compart-
ments—so that birds of different species should be
separated from each other. In a short time the cage


TRAPPING THE BEASTS AND BIRDS. 309
was seen to contain specimens of the blue-jay and
red-bird, or Virginia nightingale, orioles of several
species, and doves of two distinct kinds. There were
also several Carolina paroquets; and Frank had suc-
ceeded in capturing a bird of a very rare kind, which,
I believe, is known to the Indians as the 'wakon.'
It was the American bird of paradise; and, like those
of the Eastern world, had several long feathers grow
ing from its tail, and stretching away gracefully
behind it. In the cage were also finches of different
varieties, and beautiful bright plumage. Among
others were the green bird, the redstart, and the cock
of the woods; the little blue bird also, the red-winged
starling, and the orange-headed troupiale—which last
species migrated in large flocks into the valley.
There was a number of small cages, which had been
constructed for the smallest of all birds—the hum-
ming-birds — and Frank had caught no less than a
dozen different kinds of these most beautiful crea-
tures, which he daily supplied with fresh flowers.
Another cage, apart from all the rest, held an inmate
that, so far as appearance went, you would have said
had no right to be thus distinguished in having a
house all to himself. He was of a sober grey colour,
somewhat of the wagtail shape, with long black legs.


310
TRAPPING THE BEASTS AND BIRDS.
and claws of a dirty hue; and was altogether an ill-
favoured bird, not any better-looking than a common
house-sparrow. Had you known nothing more about
him than his outward appearance, you would hardly
have deigned to waste a second look upon him. The
moment, however, his black bill was opened, and his
lead-coloured throat became expanded in a song, you
forgot all about the dull hue of his plumage. You
all at once forgot the bright wings of the paroquet,
and the beautiful form of the oriole; the red-bird, the
blue-jay, and the wakon, were alike forgotten, and
you gazed upon this sweet musician with delight and
admiration. As you continued to listen, you would
notice that he mimicked almost every sound that
occurred within hearing. When any of the others
commenced to sing, he would catch the strain—as it
were, from their lips—and, giving it in a far higher
and bolder tone, shame them into silence. This, I
need hardly tell you, was the famous mock-bird—the
nightingale of America.
"While Frank was daily increasing his stock of
winged creatures, Harry was not idle among the
quadrupeds. No less than five kinds of squirrels had
been caught and caged. These were the grey, black,
and red or fox varieties of the tree squirrel, and two


TRAPPING THE BEASTS AND BIRDS. 811
species of ground squirrel—one the common hackee,
or chipping squirrel; while the other was a new spe
cies, which we had caught on the desert plain above,
among the roots of the artemisia plant. This last
was a beautiful little creature, not much larger than
a mouse, and striped like a little zebra. It has never
—as far as I can tell—been described by naturalists;
and on this account, as well as from its peculiar size
and beauty, it was a general favourite with all of us,
particularly with Luisa and Mary, in whose laps it
soon learnt to sleep, like a tamed mouse.
"Besides the squirrels, Harry's collection embraced
a hare and a couple of raccoons. These last were the
produce of a night-hunt or two which Cudjo had made
with the dogs; and although these fox-like animals
were by no means useful pets, yet they gave a variety
to our collection, and added to our amusement in the
observation of their curious habits.


312
THE BITERS BIT.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE BITERS BIT.
"Our next was a fishing excursion. As I have said,
Cudjo had already discovered that our stream con-
tained fish, and had caught several of them. They
were something like salmon-trout, although differing
considerably from that species in colour. Neverthe-
less they were very delicious eatiug, and we were
all very fond of them.
"We set forth in the morning, but on this
occasion we left Pompo and his cart behind, as
we had not far to go — only a short distance
down the stream, where Cudjo knew a large pool
in which the fish were plenty. We took with us
lines, made out of the wild flax that grows in
the valley, and which, Mary tells us, is found in all
countries that border upon the Rocky Mountains.
Our rods were long tapering canes which we had in
abundance around us. For hooks we used pins bent


314
THE BITERS BIT.
"' Animal!' exclaimed Harry; 'I see no animal.
Where is it, mamma?'
"' Nor do I,' replied his mother; 'but I see
indications of the presence of one, and a very de-
structive one, too. Look there!'
"As Mary said this, she pointed to a grove of
young cotton-wood trees, from which the bark and
leaves were stripped off as cleanly as if they had
been gnawed by goats, or scraped with a knife.
Some of the trees were quite dead, while others
of them were freshly peeled, and only waited for a
little time to decay them.
"' Oh, I see what you mean now, mamma,' said
Harry. 'Some animal has done this — but what
one? The beavers cannot climb; and I am sure
neither squirrels, raccoons, nor opossums, would take
the bark from trees in that manner.'
"' No; it was none of them. Your papa can best
inform you what sort of animal has been so destruc-
tive to these young trees, which, you perceive, are of
the beautiful cotton-wood species, the pojmlus angu-
latus of botanists.'
"' Come, Harry,' said I, 'let us first find the
animal if we can.'
"We all turned toward the leafless grove. We


THE BITERS BIT.
315
had not walked many steps in that direction, when
the very animal we were in search of appeared on
the ground before us. It was quite three feet long,
thick, and broad in the back, and arched from the
nose to the tail. It was of a speckled grey colour,
but with the roughest coat of hair that could possibly
be imagined. Its head and nose were very small for
the size of its body; and its short, stout legs, with
their long claws, were scarcely visible under the
tliick, shaggy hair. Its ears were also buried under
the hair; and it looked more like a round tufted
mass than an animal. It was down upon the ground;
and had evidently perceived our approach, as it
was making off through the grass as fast as it could.
That, however, was not very fast — not faster than a
frog could go — for the animal in question is one of
the very slowest travellers.
"As soon as I caught sight of it, and saw that it
was upon the ground — and not among the branches,
where I had expected to find it — I turned round to
secure the dogs. I was too late, for these unrea-
soning animals had already seen it, and, forgetful
of the lesson which the skunk had taught them, were
dashing forward in full cry. I endeavoured to call
them off; but, heedless of our shouts, both rushed


THE BITERS BIT.
817
adventure with the skunk, was rather shy of ap-
proaching the porcupine—particularly as he had heard
that this animal possesses the power of shooting his
quills to some distance, and sticking them like arrows
into his enemies. Harry inquired if this were true.
"' No,' I replied; ' it is only one of those fabulous
stories which the ingenious French naturalist, Buffon,
so much delighted to recount. The porcupine's
quills may be pulled out easily by anything which
presses too rudely against them, such as the mouth
of a mastiff; and this because they are very slightly
attached by their roots, and have a barb upon their
tops that takes hold upon any enemy that may
attempt to touch them. This is the only defence the
poor animal has got — as it is so slow of foot that
any of its enemies can easily come up with it. But,
notwithstanding its slowness, most of the fierce crea-
tures find it better to leave the porcupine to himself,
and his innocent occupation of 'barking' the trees.
He generally proves more than a match for any of
them; and, in fact, neither wolf, panther, nor wild-
cat, can kill him — as there is not a spot of his body
which they can touch when he prepares himself for
their attack. On the other hand, he frequently kills
them — only in self-defence, however, as he never


318
THE BITERS BIT.
attacks any animal, but lives altogether on his simple
food, the bark and leaves of trees. The cougar is
often found dead in the woods, his death occasioned
by the porcupine's quills that are seen sticking in
his mouth and tongue. So also the lynx has been
found, as well as many dogs and wolves.'
"So much of the natural history of this strange
animal I related to my companions at the time; but,
shortly after, an incident was witnessed by Harry and
myself which showed us that the porcupine, notwith-
standing his bristling armour, had one enemy, at
least, who could master him upon occasions. Al-
though it occurred some months after our fishing
excursion, now that we are speaking of the porcu-
pine, I shall relate it.


BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE. 319
CHAPTER XXXI.
BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE.
"It was in the middle of the winter. A light snow
had fallen upon the ground —just enough to enable
us to follow the trail of any animal we might light
upon. Of course, the snow filled us with the idea of
hunting; and Harry and I started out upon the
tracks of a brace of elk that had passed through our
opening during the night. The tracks were very
fresh-looking; and it was evident that the animals had
passed in the morning, just before we were up. We
concluded, therefore, that they had not gone far off;
and we hoped soon to come up with them.
"The trail led us along the side of the lake,
and then up the left bank of the stream. Castor
and Pollux were with us; but in our hunting excur-
sions we usually led them in a leash, so that they


3'40 BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE.
might not frighten the game by running ahead
of us.
"When about half a mile from the house, we
found that the elk had crossed to the right bank of
the stream. We were about to follow, when, all at
once, our eyes fell upon a most singular track or
tracks that led off into the woods. They were the
tracks of human feet—the feet of children!
"So thought we at 'first sight of them; and you
may fancy the surprise into which we were suddenly
thrown. They were about five inches in length, and
exactly such as would have been made by a bare-
footed urchin of six years old. There appeared to
be two sets of them, as if two children had passed,
following one another on the same trail. What
could it mean? After all, were there human beings
in the valley besides ourselves? Could these be the
footprints of two young Indians? All at once I
thought of the Diggers—the Yamparicos—the root-
eaters,—who are found in almost every hole and
corner of the American Desert. Could it be possible
that a family of these wretched creatures existed in
the valley ?' Quite possible,' thought I, when I re-
flected upon their habits. Living upon roots, insects,
and reptiles,—burrowing in holes and caves like the


BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE. 321
wild animals around them,— a family, or more,
might have been living all this time in some unex-
plored corner of the valley, without our having en-
countered any traces of them! Was this reaEy so;
and were the tracks before us the footmarks of a
brace of young Diggers, who had been passing from
point to point?
"Of course, our elk-hunt was given up until this
mystery should be solved; and we turned off from
the trail of the latter to follow that of the children.
"In coming out to an open place, where the
snow lay smoothly, and the foot-prints appeared well
defined, I stooped down to examine them more
minutely, in order to be satisfied that they were the
tracks of human feet. Sure enough, there were the
heels, the regular widening of the foot near the toes,
and the toes themselves, all plainly stamped upon
the snow. Here, however, arose another mystery.
On counting the toes, I found that in some of the
tracks there were five—as there should have been,
— while in others there were only four! This
led me to examine the print of the toes more
carefully; and I now saw that each of them was
armed with a claw, which, on account of some hairy
covering, had made but a very indefinite impression
Y


322 BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE.
in the snow. The tracks, then, were not the footmarks
of children, but those of some animal with claws.
"Notwithstanding that we had come to this con-
clusion, we still continued to follow the trail. We
were curious to see what sort of a creature had made
it. Perhaps it might be some animal unknown
to naturalists,—some new species; and we might
one day have the merit of being the first to describe
it. We had not far to go: a hundred yards, or so,
brought us in sight of a grove of young cotton-woods:
and these we saw at a glance were 'barked' by a
porcupine. The whole mystery was cleared up,—we
had been following in the trail of this animal.
"I now remembered that the porcupine was one
of the plantigrade family, with five toes on his hind
feet, and only four on the fore ones. The tracks
were undoubtedly his.
"My companion and I were somewhat chagrined
at being thus drawn away from our hunt by such an
insignificant object; and we vowed to take vengeance
upon the porcupine as soon as we should set our
eyes upon him. We were not long in doing this,—
for as we stole quietly forward, we caught sight of a
shaggy animal moving among the branches of a tree
about fifty yards ahead of us. It was he, of course.



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BATTI,E OF THE MAETEN AND PORCUPINE. 323
At the same moment, however, another animal
'hove in sight,' in appearance as different from the
porcupine as a bull from a blue-bottle.
"This creature—tail and all—was not less than a
yard and a quarter in length, and yet its body was
not thicker than the upper part of a man's arm. Its
head was broad and somewhat flattened, with short,
erect ears, and pointed nose. It was bearded like a
cat, although the face had more of the dog in its ex-
pression. Its legs were short and strong; and both
legs and body denoted tbe possession of agility and
strength. It was of a reddish brown colour, with a
white mark on the breast, and darker along the back
and on the legs, feet, nose, and tail. Its whole ap-
pearance reminded one of a gigantic weasel—which
in fact it was—the great marten of America, gene-
rally, though improperly, called the ' fisher.' When
we first saw it, it was crouching along a high log,
that ran directly toward the tree, upon which was the
porcupine. Its eyes were fixed intently upon the
latter; and it was evidently meditating an attack.
We stopped to watch it.
"The porcupine had not yet perceived his enemy,
as he was busily engaged in splitting the bark from
the cotton-wood. The marten, after reconnoitring


324 BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE.
him for some moments, sprang off from the log, and
came running towards the tree. The other now saw
him, and at the same instant uttered a sort of shrill,
querulous cry, and appeared to be greatly affrighted.
To our astonishment, however, instead of remaining
where it was, it suddenly dropped to the ground
almost at the very nose of its adversary! I could
not at first understand the policy of this strange
tactic on the part of the porcupine, but a moment's
reflection convinced me it was sound policy. The
marten would have been as much at home on the tree
as himself; and had he remained among the branches
—which were slender ones—his throat and the under
part of his body—both of which are soft and without
quills—would have been exposed to the teeth of his
adversary. This, then, was why he had let himself
down so unexpectedly; and we noticed that the in-
stant he touched the ground, he rolled himself into a
round clew, presenting on all sides the formidable
chevaux-de frise of his quills.
"The marten now ran around him, doubling his
long vermiform body with great activity—at intervals
showing his teeth, erecting his back, and snarling
like a cat. We expected every moment to see him
spfing forward upon his victim; but he did not do


BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE. 325
»
so. He evidently understood the peril of such an
act; and appeared for a moment puzzled as to how
he should proceed. All this while, the porcupine lay
quiet—except the tail. This was, in fact, the only
'feature' of the animal that could he seen, as the
head and feet were completely hidden under the
body. The tail, however, was kept constantly in
motion—jerked from side to side, and flirted occa
sionally upwards.
"What would the marten do? There was not an
inch of the other's body that was not defended by
the sharp and barbed quills—not a spot where he
could insert the tip of his nose. Would he abandon
the contest? So thought we, for a while; but we
were soon convinced of our error.
"After running around several times, as we have
described, he at length posted himself near the hind-
quarters of the porcupine, and with his nose a few
inches from the tail of the latter. In this position
he stood for some moments, apparently watching
the tail, which still continued to oscillate rapidly.
He stood in perfect silence, and without making a
movement.
"The porcupine, not being able to see him, and
perhaps thinking that he was gone, now waved his tail


326 BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE.
•
more slowly; and then suffered it to drop motion-
less.
"This was what the other was waiting for; and,
the next moment, he had seized the tail in his teeth.
We saw that he held it by the tip, where it is desti-
tute of the thorny spines.
"What would he do next? Was he going to bite
off the end of the porcupine's tail? No such thing.
He had a different game from that to play—as we
soon witnessed.
"The moment he caught the tail, the porcu-
pine uttered its querulous cries; but the marten,-
heeding not these, commenced walking backward,
dragging the other after him. Where was he drag-
ging it to? We soon saw. He was pulling it to a
tree, close by, with low branches that forked out near
the ground. But for what purpose ? thought we. We
wondered as we watched.
"The porcupine could offer no resistance. Its
feet gave way, and slipped along the snowy ground; for
the marten was evidently the much stronger animal.
"In a short time, the latter had reached the
tree, dragging the other after him to its foot. He
now commenced ascending, still holding the porcu-
pine's tail in his teeth, and taking precious care not


BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE. 327
to brush too closely to the quills. 'Surely,' thought
we, 'he cannot climb up, carrying a body almost as
big as himself in that manner!' It was not his in-
tention to climb up—only to one of the lowermost
branches—and the next moment he had reached it,
stretching his long body out on the limb, and clutch-
ing it firmly with his cat-like claws. He still held
fast hold of the porcupine's tail, which animal was
now lifted into such a position, that only its fore-
quarters rested on the ground, and it appeared to
stand upon its head—all the while uttering its pitiful
cries.
"For the life of us, we could not guess what the
marten meant by all this manoeuvring. He knew
well enough, as he gave proof the moment after.
When he had got the other as it were on a balance,
he suddenly sprang back to the ground, in such a
direction that the impetus of his leap jerked the por-
cupine upon its back. Before the clumsy creature
was able to turn over and 'clew' itself, the active
weasel had pounced upon its belly, and buried his
claws in the soft flesh, while, at the same time, his
teeth were made fast in the throat!
"In vain the porcupine struggled. The other
rode him with such agility, that he was unable to get


328 BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE.
right side up again; and in a few moments the
struggle would have ended,' by the porcupine's throat
being cut; but we saw that it was time for us to in-
terfere; and, slipping Castor and Pollux from the
leash, we ran forward.
"The dogs soon drove the marten from his victim,
but he did not run from them. On the contrary, he
turned round upon them,, keeping them at bay with
his sharp teeth and fierce snarling. In truth, they
would have had a very tough job of it, had we not
been near; but, on seeing us approach, the animal
took to a tree, running up it like a squirrel. A rifle
bullet soon brought him down again; and his long
body lay stretched out on the earth, emitting a strong
odour of musk, that was quite disagreeable.
"On returning to the porcupine—which our dogs
took care not to meddle with—we found the animal
already better than half-dead. The blood was run-
ning from its throat, which the marten had torn
open. Of course, we put the creature out of pain
by killing it outright; and taking the marten
along with us for the purpose of skinning it, we
returned homeward, leaving the elk-hunt for another
day.
"All this, as I have said, occurred afterwards.


BATTLE OF THE MARTEN AND PORCUPINE. 829
Let us now return to the narrative of our fishing
excursion.
"As soon as the porcupine had been disposed
of, we were reminded of the sufferings of our dogs,
who had ceased their howling, but required to be
relieved of the barbed spines with which their lips
were sticking full. We drew them out as easily as
we could; but, notwithstanding this, their heads
began to swell up to twice the natural size, and the
poor brutes appeared to be in great pain. They were
fairly punished for their inconsiderate rashness; and
it was not likely that they would run their noses
against another porcupine for some time to come.


330
THE CUNNING OLD " 'COON."
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE CUNNING OLD "'COON."
"We now continued our journey toward our fishing-
ground, Cudjo having hung the porcupine to a tree,
with the design of taking home with him on our
return. It was Cudjo's intention to skin it, and eat
part or the whole of it,—a species of food which he as-
sured us, he had often eaten before, and which tasted
equal to young pig. None of us were likely to join
Cudjo in such a meal; but at all events, thought we,
when the quills and skin are removed, our dogs
might get a morsel of it as a reward for their suffer-
ings. This was an object, certainly; as, out of our
scanty larder, Castor and Pollux did not fare the best
sometimes.
"We soon arrived upon the bank of the creek, and
close to the pool. This was a long stretch of deep
dark water, with a high bank on one side, sliadowed


THE CUNNING OLD " 'COON."
331
over with leafy trees. On the opposite side, the bank
was low, and shelved down to the edge —while several
logs lay along it, half covered with water, and half of
them stretching up against the bank.
"We took the high bank for our station, as upon
this there was a spot of smooth grassy turf, shaded
by beautiful palmetto-trees, where the children could
tumble about. Here Mary sat down with them,
while the rest of us proceeded to fish. Of course, we
could do no more than throw in our lines, and then
wait until the fish should be fools enough to bite.
We conversed very quietly, lest the noise of our talk-
ing should frighten the fish, though this was only an
imagination of our own. We had not been watching
our floats more than five minutes, when we noticed,
here and there, a slight stir in the water; and, in the
midst of the little circles made by this, we could
see small black objects not unlike the heads of
snakes. At first we took them for these. Cudjo,
however, knew better than we what they were, for he
had often seen them while fishing in the creeks of
Virginia.
"' Golly, Massa!' cried he, as soon as they made
their appearance, 'de creek here am full ob de
turtle.'


THE CUNNING OLD " 'COON." 333
Cudjo, these creatures will eagerly bite at anything
that may be thrown into the water and appears
strange to them. Of the truth of this we had a
curious demonstration shortly afterwards.
"In a few minutes more, each of us had taken
several good-sized fish, and we still continued watch-
ing our rods in silence, when our attention was at-
tracted to the movements of an animal upon the
opposite bank, and about one hundred yards below
where we sat. We were all well acquainted with this
animal; and Harry, the moment he saw it, whis-
pered, —
"' Look, papa! mamma! a 'coon!'
"Yes, it was a raccoon. There was no mistaking
the broad dark-brown back, the sharp fox-looking
face and snout, and the long bushy tail, with its
alternate rings of black and yellowish white. The
short thick legs, the erect ears, and the white and
black marks of the face, were familiar to all of us—
for the raccoon is one of the best-known animals in
America, and we had it among our pets.
"At the sight of the ' 'coon,' Cudjo's eyes fairly
glistened—for there is no animal that affords so much
sport to the negroes of the United States as the
'coon; and he is, therefore, to them^as interesting a


334
THE CUNNING OLD " 'COON."
creature as the fox to the red-coated hunters of Eng-
land. Hunting the raccoon is one of the principal
amusements which the poor slave enjoys, in the beau-
tiful moonlight nights of the Southern States, after
he has got free from his hard toil. By them, too, the
flesh of the 'coon is eaten, although it is not esteemed
much of a dainty. The 'possum is held in far higher
estimation. Cudjo's eyes then glistened as soon as
he set them upon his old and familiar victim.
"The 'coon all this while had seen none of us, else
he would soon have widened the distance between us
and himself. He was crawling cautiously along the
bank of the creek, now hopping up on a log, and now
stopping for a while, and looking earnestly into the
water.
"' De ole 'coon go to fish,' whispered Cudjo; 'dat's
what he am after.'
"' Fish !' said Harry.
"' Yes, Massa Harry. He fish for de turtle.'
"' And how will he catch them?' inquired Harry.
"' Golly, Massa Harry, he catch 'em. Wait, you
see.'
"We all sat quietly watching his manoeuvres,
and curious to witness how he would catch the
turtles; for none of us, with the exception of Cudjo,


THK CUNNING OLD " 'COON." 335
knew how. We knew that it was not likely he
would leap at them in the water, for these animals
can dive as quickly as a fish; besides they can bite
very severely, and would be sure to take a piece out
of the 'coon's skin, should he attack them in their
own element. But that was not his intention, as we
presently saw. Near the end of one of the logs that
protruded into the water, we observed the heads of
several turtles moving about on the surface. The
raccoon saw them also, for he was stealthily approach-
ing this log with his eyes fixed upon the swimming
reptiles. On reaching it, he climbed upon it with
great silence and caution. He then placed his head
between his fore-legs; and, turning his tail toward
the creek, commenced crawling down the log, tail-
foremost. He proceeded slowly, bit by bit, until his
long bushy tail hung over several inches into the
water, where he caused it to move gently backwards
and forwards. His body was rolled up into a sort
of clew, until one could not have told what sort of a
creature was on the log.
"He had not remained many moments in this
attitude, when one of the turtles, swimming about,
caught sight of the moving tail; and, attracted


336
THE CUNNING OLD " 'COON."
partly by curiosity, and partly in hopes of getting
something to eat, approached, and seized hold of the
long hair in his horny mandibles. But he had scarce
caught it, before the 'coon unwound himself upon
the log; and, at the same time, with a sudden and
violent jerk of his tail, plucked the turtle out of the
water, and flung him high and dry upon the bank!
Then following after, in three springs, he was beside
his victim, which with his long sharp nose he imme-
diately turned over upon its back—taking care all the
while to avoid coming in contact with the bill-like
snout of the turtle. The latter was now at the
mercy of the 'coon, who was proceeding to demolish
him in his usual fashion; but Cudjo could stand it
no longer, and away went he and the dogs, with loud
shouts, across the creek.
"The chase was not a long one, for in a few
seconds the steady barking of the dogs told us that
poor 'coony' was 'treed.' Unfortunately, for him-
self, he had run up a very low tree, where Cudjo was
able to reach him with his long spear; and when the
rest of us got forward to the spot, we found that
Cudjo had finished him, and was holding him up by
the tail, quite dead.


THE CUNNING OLD " 'COON." 337
"We now went back to our fishing; and although
we caught no more of the turtles, we succeeded in
taking as many fish as we wanted; and returning to
the house, Mary cooked for us a most excellent fish
dinner, which we all ate with a keen appetite.
z


338
LITTLE MART AND THE BEE.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
LITTLE ilAKY AND THE BEE.
"Dubikg the winter we saw very little of our beavers.
Through the cold season they lay snug in their
houses—although not in a state of torpidity, as the
beaver does not become torpid in winter. He only
keeps within doors, and spends most of his time
in eating and sleeping; but he goes out of his
house at intervals to wash and clean himself, for
the beaver is an animal of very precise habits.
He is not compelled, however, to go abroad in
search of food. As we have seen, he lays up a
stock which serves him throughout the cold season.
"For several weeks in mid-winter, the dam was
frozen over with ice strong enough to bear our
weight; and we visited the houses of the beavers
that stood up like so many hay-stacks. We found
them so hard and firm, that we could climb upon


LITTLE MARY AND THE BEE.
339
them, and pounce down upon their tops, without
the least danger of breaking them in. In fact,
it would have been anything but an easy task
to have opened one of them from above; and no
animal—not even the wolverene with his crooked
claws,—could have done it. We observed that in
every case the doors were far belowthe ice, so that the
entrance still remained open to the animals within;
and, moreover, when any one stamped heavily upon
the roof, through the clear ice we could see the
frightened creatures making their escape by darting
off into the water. Sometimes we remained to see
if they would return, but in no instance did they
come back. At the time we wondered at this—as
we knew they could not possibly live under the ice,
where there was no air. We soon found, however,
that these cunning creatures knew what they were
about; and that they had already provided means to
escape from the danger of being drowned in this
manner. Along one side of the dam there was a
bank, that rose considerably above the water; and
into this bank they had made large holes, or as they
are termed 'washes.' These were so constructed
that the entrances to them could not be frozen up;
and we found that whenever the beavers were dis-


340
LITTLE MART AND THE BEE.
turbed or frightened from their houses, they inva-
riably betook themselves to these washes, where they
could crawl quietly up above the surface of the water,
and breathe in safety.
"This was the proper season to trap the beaver,
as their fur is more valuable in winter than at any
other time; but, as I have already said, it was not
our intention to disturb them, until they should
become very numerous.
"The ice upon the dam was exceedingly smooth,
and of course suggested the idea of skates. Both
Frank and Harry were very fond of this amusement,
and, indeed, I was rather partial to it myself.
"Skates then must be had, at all cost, and again
we had recourse to the bois d'arc, the wood of which
was sufficiently light and compact for ouf purpose.
Cudjo, with his hammer and a good hickory-fire,
soon drew out the shoeing for them, making it very
thin—as our stock of iron consisted in what we had
taken from the body of the wagon, and was of course
very precious, and not to be wasted upon articles
designed merely for amusement. However, we knew
it would not be lost upon the skates, and we could
take it from them, whenever we should want to apply
it to a more useful purpose. In a short time, we


LITTLE MARY AND THE BEE.
311
had three pairs; and, strapping them firmly to our
feet with strips of deer-skin, were soon gliding over
the dam, and spinning around the beaver-houses, no
doubt to the great wonderment of such of the animals
as came out under the ice to look at us. Mary, with
Cudjo and the children, stood watching us from the
shore, and clapping their hands with delight.
"With these and such-like innocent recreations,
we passed the winter very agreeably. It was but a
very short winter; and as soon as the spring returned,
Cudjo, with his wooden plough, turned up our little
field, and we planted our corn. It occupied nearly
an acre of ground; and we had now the pleasant
prospect that, in six weeks' time, we should gather
about fifty bushels. We did not neglect our hundred
grains of wheat, but sowed that carefully in a corner
by itself. You may fancy that it did not take up
much ground. Mary had also her garden, with beds
of wild potatoes, and other roots, which she had dis-
covered in the valley. One of these was the species
of turnip already mentioned as the pomme-blanche,
or Indian turnip. She had found wild onions too,
which proved of great service in soup-making. In
her garden were many others of which I only know
the names; but three of them, the 'kamas,' the


342
LITTLE MART AND THE BEE.
'kooyah,' and 'yampah' roots are worth mentioning,
as thousands of the miserable Indians who inhabit
the American Desert subsist chiefly on them. The
widely scattered tribes known as the ' Diggers,' take
their name from the fact of their digging for, and
living upon, these roots.
"The flowers now came out in full bloom; and
some of the openings near the upper end of the
valley were a sight to behold. They were literally
covered with beautiful blossoms — malms, cleomes,
asclepias, and helianthi. We frequently visited this
part, making pic-nic excursions to all the places of
note in our little dominion. The cataract where the
stream dashed over the cliff, the salt spring, and
such-like places, formed points of interest; and we
rarely failed in any of these excursions to draw some
useful lesson from the school of Nature. Indeed,
Mary and I frequently designed them, for the pur-
pose of instructing our children in such of the natural
sciences as we ourselves knew. We had no books,
and we illustrated our teachings by the objects
around us.
"One day we had strayed up as usual among the
openings. It was very early in the spring, just as 1
the flowers were beginning to appear. We had sat


344
IJTTLE MARY AND THE BEE.
bees there should also be honey; and the word
'honey' had a magic sound in the ears of our little
community. Bees and honey now became the topic
of conversation; and not a sentence was uttered for
some minutes that did not contain an allusion to
bees or bees' nests, or bee-trees, or bee-hunters, or
honey.
"We all scattered among the flowers to assure
ourselves that it really was a bee, and not some
rascally wasp that had wounded our little Mary.
If it was a bee, we should find some of his com-
panions roaming about among the blossoms of the
helianthus.
"In a short time Harry was heard crying out, 'A
bee!—a bee !' and almost at the same instant Frank
shouted, 'Another!' 'Hya — hya!' cried Cudjo,
'hyar's de oder one—see 'im !—biz-z z. Gollies!
how he am loaded with de wax!'
"Two or three others were now discovered, all
busily plying their industrious calling; and proving
that there was one hive, at least, in some part of the
valley.
"The question now arose, how this hive was to be
found? No doubt it was in some hollow tree—but
how were we to find this tree, standing as it likely


LITTLE MART AND THE BEE.
345
did among hundreds of others, and not differing from
the rest in appearance? This was the question that
puzzled us.
"It did not puzzle all of us though. Fortunately
there chanced to be a bee-hunter among us—a real
old bee-hunter, and that individual was our famous
Cudjo. Cudjo had 'treed' bees many's the time in
the woods of ' Ole Varginny,' and cut down the trees
too, and licked the honey—for Cudjo was as sweet
upon honey as a bear. Yes, Cudjo had ' treed' bees
many's the time, and knew how—that did Cudjo.
"We should have to return to the house, however,
to enable him to make ready his implements; and as
the day was now pretty far advanced, we determined
to leave our bee-hunting for the morrow.


346
A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
"Next day we had a warm, sunshiny day—just such
an one as would bring the bees out. After breakfast
we all set forth for the openings, in high spirits at
the prospect of the sport we should have. Harry was
more eager than any of us. He had heard a good
deal about bee-hunters, and was very desirous of
knowing how they pursued their craft. He could
easily understand how, when a bee-tree was once
found, it could be cut down with an axe and split
open, and the honey taken from it. All this would
be very easily done. But how were bee-trees found?
That was the puzzle; for, as I have before observed,
these trees do not differ in appearance from others
around them, and the hole by which the bees enter is
usually so high up, that one cannot see these little
insects from the ground. One might tell it to be a


348
A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
endurance. The implements which Cudjo had
brought along with him—or as he called them, the
'fixins'—were exceedingly simple in then- character.
They consisted of a drinking-glass—fortunately we
had one that had travelled safely in our great mess-
chest—a cup-full of maple molasses, and a few tufts
of white wool taken from the tail of a rabbit. 'How
was he going to use these tilings ?' thought Harry, and
so did we all—for none of us knew anything of the
process, and Cudjo seemed determined to keep quiet
about his plans, until he should give us a practical
illustration of them.
"At length we arrived at the glades, and entered
one of the largest of them, where we halted. Pompo
was taken from the cart, and picketed upon the grass;
and we all followed Cudjo—observing every move-
ment that he made. Harry's eyes were on him like
a lynx, for he feared lest Cudjo might go through
some part of the operation without his seeing or
understanding it. He watched him, therefore, as
closely as if Cudjo had been a conjuror, and was
about to perform some trick. The latter said nothing,
but went silently to work—evidently not a little
proud of his peculiar knowledge, and the interest
which he was exciting by it.


A GRAND BEE-HUNT. 351
thumb and forefinger. He then raised it from the
log, and turning it breast upward, with his other
hand he attached a small tuft of the rabbit wool to
the legs of the insect. The glutinous paste with
which its thighs were loaded enabled him to effect
this the more easily. The wool, which was exceed-
ingly light, was now 'flaxed out,' in order to make it
show as much as possible, while, at the same time,
it was so arranged as not to come in contact with the
wings of the bee and hinder its flight. All this did
Cudjo with an expertness which surprised us, and
would have surprised any one who was a stranger to
the craft of the bee-hunter. He performed every
operation with great nicety, taking care not to crip-
ple the insect; and, indeed, he did not injure it in
the least—for Cudjo's fingers, although none of the
smallest, were as delicate in the touch as those of a
fine lady.
"When everything was arranged, he placed the
bee upon the log again, laying it down very gently.
"The little creature seemed quite astounded at
the odd treatment which it was receiving, and for a
few seconds remained motionless upon the log; but
a warm sunbeam glancing down upon it soon restored
it to its senses; and perceiving that it was once more


352 A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
free, it stretched its translucent wings and rose sud-
denly into the air. It mounted straight upward, to
a height of thirty or forty feet, and then commenced
circling around, as we could see by the white wool
that streamed after it.
"It was now that Cudjo's eyes rolled in good ear-
nest. The pupils seemed to be dilated to twice their
usual size, and the great balls appeared to tumble
about in their sockets, as if there was nothing to hold
them. His head, too, seemed to revolve, as if his
short thick neck had been suddenly converted into
a well-greased pivot, and endowed with rotatory
motion!
"After making several circles through the air, the
insect darted off for the woods. We followed it with
our eyes as long as we could ; but the white tuft was
soon lost in the distance, and we saw no more of it.
We noticed that it had gone in a straight line, which
the bee always follows when returning loaded to his
hive—hence an expression often heard in western
America, the ' bee-line,' and which has its synonym
in England in the phrase, 'as the crow flies.' Cudjo
knew it would keep on in this line, until it had
reached the tree where its nest was; consequently,
he was now in possession of one link in the chain of


A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
353
bis discovery—the direction of the bee-tree from the
point where we stood.
"But would this be enough to enable him to find
it? Evidently not. The bee might stop on the
very edge of the woods, or it might go twenty yards
beyond, or fifty, or perhaps a quarter of a mile, with-
out coming to its tree. It was plain, then, to all
of us, that the line in which the tree lay was not
enough, as without some other guide one might have
searched along t.hjs line for a week without finding
the nest.
"All this knew Cudjo before; and, of course, he
did not stop a moment to reflect upon it then. He
had carefully noted the direction taken by the insect,
which he had as carefully 'marked' by the trunk
of a tree which grew on the edge of the glade, and
in the line of the bee's flight. Another 'mark'
was still necessary to record the latter, and make
things sure. To do this, Cudjo stooped down, and
with his knife cut an oblong notch upon the bark of
the log, which pointed lengthwise in the direction
the bee had taken. This he executed with great pre-
cision. He next proceeded to the tree which he had
used as a marker, and ' blazed' it with his axe.


854
A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
"'What next ?' thought we. Cudjo was not long
in showing us what was to be next. Another log
was selected, at a point, at least two hundred yards
distant from the former one. A portion of this was
scraped in a similar manner, and molasses poured
upon the clear spot as before. Another bee was
caught, imprisoned under the glass, fed, hoppled
with wool, and then let go again. To our astonish-
ment, this one flew off in a direction nearly opposite
to that taken by the former.
"' Neber mind,' said Cudjo, 'so much de better
—two bee-tree better than one.'
"Cudjo marked the direction which the latter had
taken, precisely as he had done with the other.
"Without changing the log a third bee was caught
and ' put through.' This one took a new route, dif-
ferent from either of his predecessors.
"' Gollies! Massa!' cried Cudjo, 'dis valley am
full ob honey. Three bee-trees at one stand!' and
he again made his record upon the log.
"A fourth bee was caught, and, after undergoing
the ceremony, let go again. This one evidently be-
longed to the same hive as the first, for we saw that
it flew toward the same point in the woods. The


A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
355
direction was carefully noted, as before. A clue was
now found to the whereabouts of one hive—that of
the first and fourth bees. That was enough for the
present. As to the second and third, the records
which Cudjo had marked against them would stand
good for the morrow or any other day; and he pro-
ceeded to complete the ' hunt' after the nest of Nos.
1 and 4.
"We had all by this time acquired an insight into
the meaning of Cudjo's manoeuvres, and we were able
to assist him. The exact point where the bee-tree
grew was now determined. It stood at the point
where the two lines made by bees, Nos. 1 and 4, met
each other. It would be found at the very apex of
this angle—wherever it was. But that was the next
difficulty—to get at this point. There would have
been no difficulty about it, had the ground been open,
or so that we could have seen to a sufficient distance
through the woods. This could have been easily
accomplished by two of us stationing ourselves—one
at each of the two logs—while a third individual
moved along either of the lines. The moment this
third person should appear on both lines at once, he
would of course be at the point of intersection; and


356
A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
at this point the bee-tree would be found. I shall
explain this by a diagram.

"Suppose that A and C were the two logs, from
which the bees, Nos. 1 and 4, had respectively taken
their flight; and suppose A B and C B to be the
directions in which they had gone. If they went
directly home—which it was to be presumed they both
did—they would meet at their nest at some point B.
This point could not be discovered by seeing the
bees meeting at it, for they were already lost sight of
at short distances from A and C. But without this,
had the ground been clear of timber, we could easily
have found it in the following manner:— I should
have placed myself at log A, while Cudjo stationed
himself at C. We should then have sent one of the


A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
357
boys — say Harry—along the line AD. This, you
must observe, is a fixed line, for D was already a
marked point. After reaching D, Harry should
continue on, keeping in the same line. The mo-
ment, therefore, that he came under the eye of Cudjo
—who would be all this while glancing along C E, also
a fixed line—he would then be on both lines at once,
and consequently at their point of intersection. This,
by all the laws of bee-hunting, would be the place to
find the nest; and, as I have said, we could easily
have found it thus, had it not been for the trees.
But these intercepted our view, and therein lay the
difficulty; for the moment Harry should have passed
the point D, where the underwood began, he would
have been lost to our sight, and, of course, of no far-
ther use in establishing the point B.
"For myself, I could not see clearly how this
difficulty was to be got over—as the woods beyond
D and E were thick and tangled. The thing was no
puzzle to Cudjo, however. He knew a way of find-
ing B, and the bee-tree as well, and he went about it
at once.
"Placing one of the boys at the station A,
so that he could see him over the grass, he shouldered
his axe, and moved off along the line A D. He


358
A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
entered the woods at D, and kept on until he had
found a tree from which both A and D were visible,
and which lay exactly in the same line. This tree
he 'blazed.' He then moved a little farther, and
blazed another, and another—all on the continuation
of the line A D—until we could hear him chopping
away at a good distance in the woods. Presently he
returned to the point E; and, calling to one of us to
stand for a moment at C, he commenced ' blazing'
backwards, on the continuation of C E. We now
joined him—as our presence at the logs was no longer
necessary to his operations.
"At a distance of about two hundred yards from
the edge of the glade, the blazed lines were seen to
approach each other. There were several very large
trees at this point. Cudjo's 'instinct' told him, that
in one of these the bees had their nest. He flung
down his axe at length, and rolled his eyes upwards.
We all took part in the search, and gazed up, trying
to discover the little insects that, no doubt, were
winging their way among the high branches.
"In a few moments, however, a loud and joyful
exclamation from Cudjo proclaimed that the hunt
was over—the bee-tree was found!
"True enough, there was the nest, or the en-


A GRAND BEE-HUNT.
359
trance that led to it, away high up on a giant syca-
more. We could see the discoloration on the
bark caused by the feet of the bees, and even the
little creatures themselves crowding out and in. It
was a large tree, with a cavity at the bottom big
enough to have admitted a full-sized man, and, no
doubt, hollow up to the place where the bees had con-
structed their nest.
"As we had spent many hours in finding it, and
the day was now well advanced, we concluded to leave
farther operations for the morrow, when we should
fell it, and procure the delicious honey. With this
determination, and well satisfied with our day's
amusement, we returned to our house.


360
A BtVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
CHAPTER XXXV.
A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
"Now, there were some circumstances to be consi-
dered, before we could proceed any farther in the mat
-
ter of the bees. How were we to get at the honey?
'Why, by felling the tree, and splitting it open, of
course,' you will say. Well, that would have to be
done, too; but there was still another consideration.
It is no very difficult matter to fell a tree, and split
it up—that is, when one has a good axe—but it is a
very different affair to take the honey-combs from
some eight or ten thousand bees, every one of them
with a sharp sting in his tail. We had no brimstone;
and if we had had such a thing, they were well out
of the reach of it, while the tree stood; and after it
should be felled, we could not approach them. They
would then be furious to a certainty.
*


A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
361
"But Cudjo's knowledge of bee-hunting extended
farther than to the mere finding of the tree. He knew,
also, how to humbug the bees, and rob them of their
sweet honey. That was a part of the performance
that Cudjo understood as well as any other. Accord-
ing to his directions, then, two pairs of stout buck-
skin gloves were prepared. We chanced to have one
pair already, and Mary soon stitched up a second,
of the kind generally used for weeding thistles—that
is, having only a thumb, and a place for all the fin-
gers together. One pair of the gloves Cudjo intended
to use himself—the other was for me. Of course,
the rest were to take no part in the robbery, but only
to stand at a safe distance and look on.
"In addition to the gloves, a couple of masks were
cut out of elk-hide, and with strings fitted to our
faces. These, with our thick deer-skin overcoats,
would protect us against the stings of all the bees in
creation.
"Thus accoutred, then, or rather taking these
articles along with us, we set out for the bee-tree.
Of course, everybody went as usual. We took with
us the axe to cut down the tree, and several vessels to
hold the honey.
"On arriving at the glade, we loosed Pompo


A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
363
"We observed that it was a warm day—the warm-
est we had had up to that time—and, probably, the
heat had set them a-going. With this explanation,
therefore, in the absence of a better, we remained
satisfied; and commenced making our preparations to
fell the tree.
"It was not likely to be a difficult job. The tree,
as I have said, was a hollow one; and near the ground
its trunk was nothing but a mere shell, which we
could easily cut through. So Cudjo. went lustily to
work with his axe; and the white sycamore chips
were soon flying in every direction.
"He had hardly made a dozen strokes, when we
were startled by a singular noise, that sounded some-
thing like a ' cross ' between a growl and a snort!
"Cudjo immediately suspended his blows; and we
all stood gazing at each other with looks that be-
tokened surprise and terror. I say terror—for the
noise had something terrible in it; and we knew it
could have proceeded from nothing else than some
large and fierce animal. Whence did it come?—
1:om the woods? We looked anxiously around us,
but no motion could be observed in the bramble,
""he underwood was thin, and we could have seen a
large animal at some distance, had such been there.


364
A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
"Again the horrid sound echoed in our ears. It
appeared to issue out of the earth! No—it came out
of the tree!
"' Golly!' exclaimed Cudjo, • it am a bar, Massa
Roff! I know him growl.'
"' A bear!' I ejaculated, catching the thought at
the same moment. 'A bear in the bee-tree! Run,
Mary! Run for the glade !'—and I hurried my wife
and children from the spot. Harry and Frank both
wished to remain with their rifles, and I could
hardly get them off. I induced them to go, at length,
by telling them that they must stay near their
mother and the little ones, to guard them in case
the animal should come that way. All this occupied
but a few seconds of time, and then Cudjo and I were
left to ourselves.
"It was evident that a bear was up the hollow of
the tree, and hence the flurry among the bees.
Cudjo's axe had disturbed him—he was coming
down!
"What was to be done? Could we not close up
the hole? No—there was nothing—we should be
too late!
"I seized my rifle, while Cudjo stood by with his
axe. I cocked the piece, and made ready to fire the


A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
365
moment his head should appear. To our astonish-
ment, instead of a head, a shapeless mass of shaggy,
black hair made its appearance, which we saw was
the rump and hind-quarters of the animal. He was
coming down tail-foremost—although not a bit of
tail was to be seen, for he had none.
"We did not stop to examine that. I fired as
soon as his hips made their appearance, and almost
at the same instant Cudjo dealt them a hearty blow
with his axe. It was enough to have killed him,
as we thought, but to our surprise the hind-quarters
suddenly disappeared. He had gone up the tree
again. #
"What next ?—would he turn himself in the
hollow, and come down head-foremost? If so, my
rifle was empty, and Cudjo might miss his blow, and
let him pass out.
"All at once my eye fell upon the two great deer-
skin coats, that were lying on the ground close by.
They would be large enough, properly rolled, to fill
the mouth of the cavity. I threw aside my rifle,
and laid hold of them. Cudjo assisted me. In a
second or two, we had gathered them into a hard
'clump,' and wedged them into the hole. They
fitted it exactly!"


366
A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
"We saw blood streaming down as we stuffed
in the coats. The bear was wouuded. It was not
likely, then, that he would trouble us for a while;
and as one watched the coats, the other brought
up great stones, which we piled against them, until
we had made all secure.
"We now ran around the tree, looking up the
trunk, to assure ourselves that there was no opening
above, through which he might creep out and come
down upon us. No—there was none, except the
bee-hole, and that was not big enough for his nose,
sharp as it was. Bruin was fairly ' in the trap.'
"I knew that Mary and the rest would be uneasy
about us ; and I ran out to the glade to make known
our success. The boys cheered loudly; and we all
returned together to the tree, as there was now no
danger—no more than if there hadn't been a bear
nearer to us than the North Pole.
"We had him now, so that there was no fear
of his escaping. But how were we to get at him ?—
for we had determined to take his life. Such a
fierce creature as this must not be allowed to get off;
as he would soon have settled with one of us, had
he met us on anything like equal terms. I had
thought, at first, he might be a grizzly bear, and


A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
367
this had terrified me the more—for the killing of
one of these fierce animals with a shot is next to an
impossibility. When I reflected, however, I knew
it could not be this; for the 'grizzly,' unlike his
sable cousin, is not a tree-climber. It was the
black bear, then, that we had got in the tree.
"But how were we to reach him? Leave him
where he was, and let him starve to death? No,
that would never do. He would eat all the fine
stock of honey; if, indeed, he had not done so
already. Moreover, he might scrape his way out,
by enlarging the bee-hole. This he could do with
his great sharp claws. We must therefore adopt
some other plan.
"It occurred to us that it was just probable he
might be down at the bottom, poking his nose
against the coats. We could not tell, for there
was no longer any growling. He was either too
angry, or too badly scared to growl—we could not
say which. At all events, he was not uttering a
sound. He might, nevertheless, be as close to us
at the moment as he could get. If so, our plan
would be to cut a small hole in the tree above
him, so that we might reach him with a bullet


368
A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
from the rifle. This plan was adopted, and Cudjo
set to work to make the hole.
"In a few minutes the thin shell was penetrated,
and we could see into the cavity. Bruin was no-
where visible—he was still up the tree. The
'taste of our quality,' which he had had on his first
descent, had evidently robbed him of all inclination
to try a second. What next?
"' Smoke 'im!' cried Cudjo; 'dat fotch 'im
down.'
"The very thing: but how were we to do it?
By pushing dead leaves and grass through the hole
Cudjo had cut, and then setting them on fire. But
our coats—they might be burned! These we could
first remove, putting great stones in their place;
and we proceeded to do so. In a few minutes that
was accomplished: the grass and leaves were stuffed
in; some tufts were set on fire and thrust through;
more rubbish was piled on top, until it reached up
on a level with the hole; and then the hole was
closed with a bundle of grass, so as to prevent the
smoke from escaping.
"In a few moments we saw that everything was
progressing as we had intended it. A blue rope





A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
369
of smoke came oozing out of the bee-hole, and the
terrified bees swarmed out in clusters. We had
not thought of this before, else we might have
saved ourselves the trouble of making the gloves
and masks.
"Bruin now began to give tongue. We could
hear him high up the tree snarling and growling
fiercely. Every now and then he uttered a loud
snort, that sounded very like an asthmatic cough.
After a while his growls changed into a whine, then
a hideous moan, and then the sounds ceased altoge-
ther. The next moment we heard a dull concussion,
as of a heavy body falling to the earth. We knew
it was the bear, as he tumbled from his perch.
"We waited for some minutes. There was no
longer any stir—no sound issued from the tree.
We removed the grass from the upper hole. A thick
volume of smoke rolled out. The bear must be
dead. No creature could live in such an atmo-
sphere. I introduced my ramrod through the
opening. I could feel the soft hairy body of the
animal, but it was limber and motionless. It was
dead. Feeling convinced of this, at length, we
removed the rocks below, and dragged it forth.
Yes, the bear was dead,— or, at all events, very
B B


370
A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
like it; but, to make the thing sure, Cudjo gave
him a knock on the head with his axe. His long,
shaggy hair was literally filled with dead and dying
bees, that, like himself, had been suffocated with
the smoke, and had fallen from their combs.
"We had hardly settled the question of the bear,
when our attention was called to another circum-
stance, which was likely to trouble us. We per-
ceived that the tree was on fire. The decayed
heart-wood that lined the cavity inside had caught
fire from the blazing grass, and was now crackling
away like fury. Our honey would be lost!
"This was a grievous finale, after all—in short, a
complete disappointment to our hopes, for we had
calculated on having honey on our table at supper.
"What could we do to save it? But one thins,
that was evident:—cut down the tree as quickly
as possible, and then cut it through again between
the fire and tbe bees' nest.
"Should we have time for all this? The fire was
already high up; and the draught, since we had
opened the holes below, whizzed up the cavity as
through a funnel.
"Seeing this, we closed them again; and Cudjo
went to work with his axe, cutting all around the


A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
371
tree. And the way he did ply that axe! he seemed
to have a wager against time. It was beautiful to
see the style in which the chips flew!
"At length the tree began to crack, and we all
stood out from it, except Cudjo, who understood
which way it would fall, and was not afraid of being
crushed. Not he! for Cudjo could 'lay' a tree
wherever it was wanted to the breadth of a hair.
"' Cr-r-r-ack!—cr-r-r-r-ash!' said the great syca-
more, and down it came, shivering its branches into
an hundred sticks as it fell.
"It had scarcely touched the ground, when we
saw Cudjo attack it at another point with his 9•XCs £LS
though it were some great monster, and he was
trying to cut off its head.
"In a few minutes more he had laid open the
cavity, close to the combs; and, to our great satis-
faction, we saw that the fire had not yet reached
them. They were well smoked, however, and com-
pletely deserted by the bees; so that we used
neither the masks nor gloves in gathering the honey.
Bruin had been before us, but he had not been
long at his meal when we intruded upon him, as
only one or two of the combs were missing. Enough
was left. It was evidently a very old hive, and


37-2
A RIVAL HONEY-ROBBER.
there was honey enough to fill all the vessels we
had brought with us.
"We bundled the bear into the cart—as both
his hams and skin were worth the trouble —and
leaving the old sycamore to burn out, we turned
our faces homeward.


374
THE BATTLE OF THE BUCKS.
able to start and run down a fawn with the dogs
Castor and Pollux. For this we had muzzled both,
so that they should not tear the fawn when they
came up with it—as I had often seen greyhounds
muzzled at home for the same purpose. We went
up the valley, where we would be most likely to fall
in with the objects of our search; but not knowing
how soon a deer might start out of the bushes, we
walked along very silently and slowly, watching the
woods before us, and listening to every sound. At
length we arrived near the edge of a small opening,
as we could tell by the clear breaks through the
branches. It was in these glades or openings that
we usually fell in with the deer; and we advanced
with increased caution, each of us holding a dog in
the leash which we had made for them. All at once
a singular noise reached our ears, evidently coming
from the glade. It sounded as if several large ani-
mals were stamping furiously over the firm turf;
but in the midst of this there was a constant
cracking of some hard substances, as if half-a-dozen
men were playing with eagerness at the game of
single-stick. Every now and then we could hear a
strange sound, short and fierce, like the snorting of a
horse. Of course, Harry and I stopped in our tracks


THE BATTLE OF THE BUCKS.
375
the moment we first heard these singular noises.
Our dogs cocked their ears, and wanted to spring
forward; but we held them both tightly on their
strings, while we listened. For the life of us, neither
I nor my companion could guess what was going on
in the glade.
"' What can it be, papa ?' said Harry.
"' I haven't the slightest idea,' replied I.
"' It must be animals,' said he, 'and a good many
of them, too, to make so much stamping. Papa, is
not that the snort of a deer? I think I have heard
deer make just such a noise.'
"' Maybe it is. Perhaps it may be elk; but
what can cause such a commotion among them, I
wonder?'
"'What think you,' suggested Harry,' if they are
fighting with some animal — a panther, or perhaps a
bear?'
"' If so,' said I, ' our best plan would be to get
back the road we came, and that as speedily as pos-
sible. But I do not think it is that. They would
not stand to fight such creatures. Both elk and deer
trust to their heels rather than horns to escape from
bears and panthers. No, it is not that; but let us


376
THE BATTLE OF THE BUCKS.
creep forward, and see what it is, anyhow. Hold fast
to your dog. Come!'
"We crouched forward with the utmost caution,
taking care not to tread upon the dry leaves and
dead branches that lay across our track. We saw
before us a thicket of pawpaws; and we made to-
wards this—knowing that the broad green leaves of
these bushes would screen us. We were soon among
them; and a few paces farther through the thicket
brought us in full view of the glade. There we saw
what had caused all the strange noises, and which
still continued as loud as ever.
"In the middle of the glade there were six red-
deer. They were all bucks, as we could easily tell
from their great branching antlers. They were en-
gaged in fierce and terrible conflict — sometimes
two and two, and sometimes three or four of them,
clumped together in a sort of general melee. Then
they would separate again; and going some distance
apart, would wheel suddenly about, and rush at each
other with furious snorts, first striking forward
with their fore-feet held close together, and then
goring one another with their sharp horns, until we
could see the skin torn open, and the hair flying


THE BATTLE OF THE EUCKS.
377
from them in tufts. Their eyes were flashing like
fire, and their whole actions betokened that the
animals were filled with rage and fury.
"I saw at once what all this meant. It was now
the rutting season; and these chivalrous bucks were
engaged in desperate combat about some fair doe, as
is their yearly habit.
"They were too distant for either Harry's rifle or
mine; and thinking they might fight themselves a
little nearer, we determined to remain where we
were, and watch. The combat still continued to rage
furiously. Sometimes two of them came together
with such violence that both went rolling over to the
earth; but in a moment they would up, and at it
again, as fiercely as ever.
"Our attention was particularly directed to two of
the combatants, that were larger and older than any
of the others—as we could tell from the greater num-
ber of points upon their antlers. None of the others
seemed a match for either of these two, who had at
length singled each other out as worthy antagonists,
and fought separately. After goring and stamping
a while, they parted—as if by mutual consent—and
walked backward until they had got at least twenty
yards from each other. Then setting their necks,


THE BATTLE OF THE BUCKS.
379
unmuzzled the dogs, and let them after. Of course,
we had stooped down to perform this operation.
What was our surprise, on looking up again, to see
the two old bucks still in the glade, and fighting,
head to head, as briskly as ever!
"Our first thought was to reload our pieces, but
the dogs had been let loose; and these, instead of
pursuing the other deer, dashed forward at the
bucks, and the next moment sprang upon their
flanks. Harry and I rushed after, and you may
guess that our surprise was still further increased
when we saw the bucks, instead of separating, still
struggle head to head—as if their desperate hostility
for each other had rendered them reckless of every
other danger! When we got forward to the spot,
the mastiffs had brought both of them to their
knees; and now for the first time we perceived
the true cause why they had continued their sin-
gular combat — because they could not help them-
selves—their antlers were locked in each other! Yes,
— held as firmly as if they had been lashed together
by thongs cut out of their own hides. Indeed, far
more firmly, for after we had beaten off the dogs,
and secured the animals from the chance of escaping,
we found their horns so interlocked—one pair within


THE BATTLE OF THE BUCKS.
381
we had arrived upon the ground as we did. Otherwise
their fate was a settled one. The wolves, or some
other of their numerous enemies, would have treated
them worse than we intended to do; or had they not
been discovered by these, their doom was sealed all the
same. They might have twisted and wriggled about
for a few days longer, to die of thirst and hunger,
still locked in that hostile embrace. Such is the
fate of many of these animals.
"Cudjo soon arrived with the necessary imple-
ments; and, after hoppling both the bucks, we sawed
one of the branches from their antlers, and set them
asunder. We then put all three into the cart, and
returned triumphant to the house.


382
THE PIT-TRAP.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE PIT-TRAP.
"Cudjo had already completed our deer-park, which
consisted of several acres, partly woodland and part
of it being in the glade immediately adjoining the
house. It was enclosed on all sides by a ten-rail
fence, with stakes and riders, so that no animal of
the deer species could possibly leap out of it. One
of its sides lay along the lake; and a trench had
been cut, so as to admit a small pond of water within
the enclosure. Into this our bucks were put, and
left to enjoy themselves as they best might.
"The next anxiety of Harry and myself was to
procure a doe or two to keep them company. There
was no likelihood that we should capture a pair of
does as we had just done the bucks—since the does
of this species of deer are without the great antlers.


386
THE PIT-TRAP.
so that in about five hours' time we had excavated
a square hole, at least seven feet deep. This would
do, thought we. No deer could leap out of that
hole, we were certain.
"We now placed the saplings across the top, and
over these a thin stratum of cane-reeds, and above
all this a quantity of long grass and withered leaves—
so as to make it look as like as possible to the rest
of the surface around it. We then removed the
clods, and other marks of our work, put our imple-
ments into the cart, and started off home again.
Of course we could do nothing more than wait, until
some unlucky deer should drop into the pit.
"By sunrise on the following morning, we paid
a visit to our trap. As we drew near, we saw to our
great joy that the top was broken in.
"' We have caught something, papa,' said Harry,
as we ran eagerly up to the ground. What was our
astonishment, on looking into the pit, to see lying
along the bottom the naked skeleton of an animal,
which we knew at once was that of a deer! We
knew this by the horns, as well as pieces of the torn
skin that were strewed all over the ground. All
around the inside of the trap there were evidences of
some terrible struggle that had taken place during


THE PIT-TRAP.
387
the night; and the reeds and grass that had fallen
in along with the animal were sprinkled with blood,
and trampled down upon the bottom of the pit.
"' What can it be?' inquired Harry, as we stood
gazing at this unexpected picture. 'Ha! papa, 111
wager it was the wolves!'
"' No doubt,' replied I; 'it must have been they.
The buck has fallen in during the night; and they
have just leaped down upon the top, and made a
meal of him.'
"' Isn't it too bad,' said Harry, in a tone of vexa-
tion, ' that we should have constructed so fine a trap
just to accommodate those rascally wolves? Isn't it
too bad?'
"' Have a little patience,' said I, ' we shall see
what can be done to punish the ravenous brutes. Kun
back to the house, and bring Cudjo, with his cart and
tools—be sure you tell him to bring the large basket.'
"In a short time Cudjo came with his spade and
cart, and we set freshly to work upon the pit. It
was now so deep that we had to use the large willow
basket which Cudjo had made some time before.
This we slung upon a thong of deer's hide; and low-
ering it into the pit, we filled it with the earth,
drew it up again, and emptied it into the cart. It was


388
THE PIT-TRAP.
somewhat laborious work; and Cudjo and I took
turns about with the basket and spade. After a
couple of hours or so, we had added four feet to the
depth of our pit, which made it twelve in all. Of
course we cut the sides as nearly perpendicular as
we could—if anything a little hanging over. We
covered it as before, putting fresh leaves and grass
on the top of all.
"' Now,' said we to one another, as we marched off,
'let us see the wolf that will leap out of that, should
he be only fool enough to drop into it. He may kill
the deer while he is in, but we shall do the same for
him in the morning.'
"Next morning we started forth again, big with
expectation. Our whole party went,—Frank, Mary,
and the little ones,—as they were all eager to see the
trap, and whether we had taken any thing. Cudjo
brought with him his long spear, while Harry and I
carried our rifles. Frank armed himself with his
bow. We were prepared for the wolves every way.
"As we drew near the trap, Harry, who had gone
a few paces in advance of the rest, came running
back to announce that the top was broken in, and
that there was some animal inside. This was great
news; and we all hurried forward, filled with the


THE PIT-TRAP.
393
hole had been scraped under the trap, which, running
for some distance underground, came out upon the
outside. But the most singular part of the business
was, that this hole had evidently been burrowed
before the trigger had been touched, or the trap had
fallen! We could tell this, because the hole was
made from the outside, and through it the animal
had most likely entered. Of course, in laying hold
of the bait, the trigger was sprung, and the trap fell;
but it was of no use then, as the wolf had only to
crawl out through the subterranean road he had
made, dragging the meat along with him.
"We again tried the 'pit-trap'—although we still
had the one which we had made near the salt
springs, and in which we afterwards from time to
time caught deer and other animals, but no wolves.
We made another, however, at a different part of
the valley, near some caves where we knew the
wolves were in great plenty. We baited this, first
placing some venison upon the covering of leaves,
and afterwards putting one of our live bucks into
the pit; but in both cases the bait remained un-
touched, although we had sufficient evidence that
wolves had been around it all the night.
"We were very much chagrined by these nume-


394
THE PIT-TRAP.
rous disappointments, as we wanted to thin off
the wolves as much as possible. We occasionally
shot an odd one or two; but we as often missed
them; and we could not afford to waste our powder
and lead upon them. Cudjo, however, did the busi-
ness at last, by constructing a trap such as he said
he had often caught raccoons with in ' old Varginny.'
This was arranged something on the principle of the
wire mouse-trap; and the spring consisted in a young
tree or sapling bent down and held in a state of ten-
sion until the trigger was touched, when it instantly
flew up, and a heavy log descended upon whatever
animal was at the bait, crushing or killing it in-
stantly. By means of Cudjo's invention we suc-
ceeded in taking nearly a dozen of our skulking
enemies in the course of a few nights, after which
time they grew so shy, that they would not approach
anything at all that looked like a ' fixture,' and for a
long while we could trap no more of them.
"Of course all these incidents occurred after-
wards, but they convinced us that it was owing to
their great sagacity, why the three we had killed in
the pit had left undisturbed the doe and her fawns.
They were no doubt the same that had eaten the
buck on the night before. They had found him in a


THE P1T-TRAP.
395
shallow pit, out of which, after making their supper
upon him, they had easily escaped. Returning again
next night, they had watched until the doe and her
fawns came along and dropped into the pit; and
then, without dreaming of any change in the circum-
stances of the case, the wolves had leaped in after.
But the increased descent down which they had
pitched, convinced these wary animals that they had
'leaped without looking,' and were 'in the trap'
themselves; and, guessing that whoever had made
that trap would soon be alongside, they were as
much frightened as the poor doe. In this state we
had actually found them—cowering and crouching,
and more scared-like than the fawns themselves.
You will think this a very improbahle relation, yet
it is quite true. An equally improbable event
occurred not long after. Frank caught a large fox
and a turkey in his trap; and although they had been
together for some hours, not a feather of the turkey
was plucked by its affrighted neighbour!
"I have also heard of a panther, who, by the sud-
den rising of a flood, had found himself upon a small
islet in company with a deer; and although at any
other time his first instinct would have led him to
pounce upon it, yet the poor deer was allowed to run


396
THE PIT-TRAP.
about without its fierce companion attempting to
touch it. He saw that he and the deer were
equally in peril; and a common danger among the
wild animals—as among men—frequently turns foes
into friends.


398 THE OLD " 'POSSUM" AND HER KITTENS.
"We travelled on down the valley, looking for a
tree with moss upon it, that we could climb. At
length, almost close to the foot of the cliff, we chanced
upon a very large live-oak, with low branches, from
which the long, silvery moss was hanging down in
streamers, like the tails of horses. We soon stripped
off what was on the lower branches; and then climb-
ing up on these, proceeded to rob the others, that
were higher, of their long stringy parasites.
"While thus engaged, our attention was attracted
to the chirping and chattering of some birds in a
thicket of pawpaws close to our tree. We looked in
that direction, and we could see down into the thicket
very plainly from where we stood among the branches.
We saw that the birds making the noise were a pair
of orioles, or 'Baltimore birds,' as they are often
called, from the fact that, in the early settlements,
their colour—a mixture of black and orange—was
observed to be the same as that in the coat-of-arms
of Lord Baltimore. Frank and I conjectured that
they must have a nest among the pawpaws, for they
had scolded us as we were passing through but a
moment before. But what were they scolding now?
asked we of one another—for the birds were flutter-
ing among the broad green leaves, uttering their


400 THE OLD " POSSUM " AND HER KITTENS.
wide, and, as we could see, full of sharp teeth. The
legs were short and stout, and the feet with their
keen claws seemed to spread out upon the ground
more like hands than feet. The tail was very pecu-
liar; it was nearly as long as the body, tapering like
that of a rat, and quite naked. But the greatest
curiosity in the structure of this creature was a pouch-
like opening which appeared under her belly, and
which showed us that she belonged to the family of
the marsupialia, or pouched animals. This, of course,
we had known before. The little ''possums' were
exact pictures of their mother—all having the same
sharp snouts and long naked tails. We counted no
less than thirteen of them, playing and tumbling
about among the leaves.
"As soon as the old one had shaken them all off,
she stepped more nimbly over the ground, going
backwards and forwards, and looking up into one of
the pawpaws that grew above the spot where she had
halted. In this tree the orioles were now fluttering
about, chirruping wildly, and at intervals making a
dash downward, until their wings almost swept the
nose of the opossum. The latter, however, appeared
to take all this very coolly, and evidently did not
regard the imbecile efforts of the birds to frighten


402 THE OLD " 'POSSUM" AND HER KITTENS.
ones, one by one, in her mouth, she caused each of
them to make a turn or two of its tail around the
branch, and hang head downwards. Five or six of
the 'kittens' were still upon the ground. For these
she returned, and taking them up as before, again
climbed the tree. She disposed of the second load,
precisely as she had done the others, until the
thirteen little 'possums hung head downwards along
the branch, like a string of candles!
"It was such a comical sight to see these monkey-
looking little creatures dangling by their tails, that
my companion and I could not restrain our laughter
as we gazed upon it. We took care, however, not
to laugh aloud, as we were anxious to observe the
further movements of the old 'possum, and we knew
that if she should hear us it would spoil sport at
once.
"As soon as she saw the young ones all fairly
suspended, she separated from them, and commenced
climbing higher. We noticed that she caught the
branches in her claws, exactly as a human being
would have done with his hands, hoisting herself
from limb to limb. At length she reached the branch
upon which hung the nest, far out at its top. For a
moment she stopped and surveyed it. She was evi-


THi REW YORC
PUBLIC LIBRART
A«TOH. l»KM
[i.DKN roHNDATlOU*


THE OLD " 'POSSUM" AND HER KITTENS. 403
dently in doubt whether it would carry her weight
without breaking, and so were we. Should it break,
she would have a smart fall to the ground—for the
tree was one of the highest, for a pawpaw, we had
ever seen, and there were no other branches below
to which she could clutch in case of falling.
"The nest, however, full of eggs no doubt, tempted
her on; and, after a moment's pause, she started
along the branch. When about half-way up it—
holding on both" with tail and feet—the slender sap-
ling began to creak and bend, and show symptoms
of breaking. This, with the screaming of the birds,
that now flapped against her very nose, seemed all at
once to cow h^r; and she crept down again, going
backwards along "Ihe limb. On reaching the fork,
she paused, and looked about with an air that showed
she was both vexed and puzzled. All at once her
eyes rested upon the branch of an oak-tree, that
stretched out over the pawpaw, and directly above
the orioles' nest. She looked at this for a moment—
as if calculating its height from the nest; then seem-
ing to make up her mind, she ran nimbly down the
pawpaw, over the ground that intervened, and up
the trunk of the oak. We lost sight of her for an
instant among the thick leaves; but the next we


406 THE MOCCASON SNAKE AND THE ORIOLES.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE MOCCASON SNAKE AND THE ORIOLES.
"We now climbed back into the live-oak, and re-
commenced flinging down our moss. We were chat-
ting gaily about the curious scene we had just .wit-
nessed. Frank was remarking how lucky he had
been in thus finding the nest of the orioles—as he
wanted young birds of that species, and" he could
return for them whenever they were hatched. All
of a sudden, these birds—that since the defeat of the
'possum had remained perfectly quiet—again com-
menced screaming and chattering as before.
"'Another 'possum!' said Frank; 'maybe it's
the old father coming to look after his family.'
"We both stopped, and looked down. We soon
discovered what was causing this new commotion.
Slowly gliding over the grass, and glittering as it
went, was a long monster-looking object. It was a


THE MOCCASON SNAKE AND THE ORIOLES. 407
huge serpent—a snake of the most venomous kind
—the dreaded 'moccason.' It was one of the
largest of its species; and its great flat head, pro-
truding sockets, and sparkling eyes, added to the
hideousness of its appearance. Every now and then,
as it advanced, it threw out its forked tongue, which,
moist with poisonous saliva, flashed under the sun-
beam like jets of fire. It was crawling directly for
the tree on which hung the nest. Frank and I
stood still where we were, determined to watch its
movements, as we had done those of the opossum.
On reaching the root of the pawpaw, it stopped for a
moment, as if to consider.
"' Do you think it is going to climb up to the
nest?' inquired my companion.
"' No,' I replied, 'the moccason is not a tree-
climber. If it were, the poor birds as well as the
squirrels would have little chance; but it cannot
climb. Look at it! it is only making pretence—to
frighten the orioles still more, if possible.'
"As I said this, the snake had drawn its body
closer to the tree, and raised its flat head up against
the trunk, throwing out its tongue as if it was lick-
ing the bark.
"The orioles, evidently believing that it was about


408 THE MOCCASON SNAKE AND THE ORIOLES.
to climb up, had now descended to the lowest
branches, fluttering from one to the other, and
screaming all the while either with rage, or terror,
or both combined.
"The snake, seeing them approach almost within
range of his hideous maw, gathered himself into a
coil, and prepared to strike. His eyes scintillated
like sparks of fire, and seemed to fascinate the birds;
for, instead of retiring, they each moment drew
nearer and nearer, now alighting on the ground,
then flapping back to the branches, and anon darting
to the ground again—as though they were under some
spell from those fiery eyes, and were unable to take
themselves away! Their motions appeared to grow
less energetic, their chirping became almost inaudible,
and their wings seemed hardly to expand as they flew,
or rather fluttered, around the head of the serpent.
One of them at length dropped down upon the
ground—within reach of the snake—and stood with
open bill, as if exhausted, and unable to move far-
ther. We were expecting to see the snake suddenly
launch forth upon his feathered victim; when, all at
once, his coils flew out, his body was thrown at full
length, and he commenced retreating from the tree!
The birds, apparently released from the spell that


410 THE MOCCASON SNAKE AND THE ORIOLES.
a dark reddish colour—two young peccaries—were
following at its heels. Like the opossum, it was a
mother and her brood.
"The three soon drew near the pawpaws; and the
orioles seeing them, once more set up the scolding
concert. But the old peccary paid no attention to
the' birds. They were nothing to her; and she
passed on with her nose to the ground, occasionally
stopping to pick up a seed or a nut.
"In going away from the thicket, she crossed
the track by which the serpent had retreated.
All on a sudden she stopped, tossed up her
nose, and scented the air. The fetid smell of
the moccason had reached her, and seemed at once
to rouse all her energies. She ran for some
moments from side to side with her nose to the
ground, and lifting the trail like a hound. She first
followed it back to the tree, but there was a double
trail—that by which the snake had come, as well as
the one he had just made in retreating—and this for
a moment puzzled her. She took the wrong trail at
first, and gallopped nimbly out upon it; but, almost
in the same breath, returned to the tree, and then
started upon the other.
"During all these manoeuvres, the snake was


THE MOCCASON SNAKE AND THE ORIOLES. 411
crawling off as fast as he could—which at best was
only a very tardy gait,— for the moccason is but a
slow traveller. We could see that he kept as much
as possible under the grass, occasionally raising his
flattened head, and glaring behind him. He was
making for the cliffs, that were only about a stone's
throw distant.
"He had got scarce half-way, when the peccary
running up the fresh trail almost trod upon him; and,
seeing the object of her pursuit, she suddenly stop-
ped, erected her long bristles, and uttered a shrill
grunt. The snake, finding that he was overtaken,
threw himself into a coil, and prepared to give battle;
while his antagonist, now looking more like a great
porcupine than a pig, drew back, as if to take the
advantage of a run; and then halted. Both for a
moment eyed each other—the peccary evidently cal-
culating its distance,—while the great snake seemed
cowed, and quivering with affright. Its appearance
was entirely different from the bright semblance it
had exhibited but a moment before when engaged
with the birds. Its eyes were less fiery, and its
whole body seemed more ashy and wrinkled.
"We had not many moments to observe it, for the
peccary was now seen to rush forward, spring high


412 THE M0CCAS0N SNAKE AND THE ORIOLES.
into the air, and pounce down with all her feet held
together upon the coils of the serpent! She imme-
diately bounded back again; and, quick as thought,
once more rose above her victim. The snake
was now uncoiled, and writhing over the ground.
Another rush from the peccary—another spring—
and the sharp hoofs of the animal came down upon
the neck of the serpent, crushing it upon the hard
turf. The body of the reptile, distended to its
full length, quivered for a moment, and then lay
motionless along the grass. The victor uttered another
sharp cry—that seemed intended as a call to her
young ones—who, emerging from the weeds where
they had concealed themselves, ran nimbly forward
to the spot.


THE BATTLE OF THE COUGAR, ETC.
413
CHAPTER XL.
THE BATTLE OF THE COUGAR AND PECCARIES.
"Frank and I were rather pleased with the result
of the encounter; though I do not see why we should
have taken sides with the peccary, who would have
eaten the birds—could she have caught them—and
their eggs, too, just as fast, as the snake would have
done. And why should we have taken the part of
the birds either, who, in their turn, had devoured
many a butterfly as bright and beautiful as them-
selves? But so it is. From time immemorial, the
poor snake—who is comparatively a harmless animal,
and whose deadly powers have been greatly exag-
gerated—has been hated and persecuted by man more
than any other creature; thus fulfilling in a remark-
able manner the prophecy of the Sacred Book.
"We began to consider what plan we should
take to capture the animal. We desired very much


THE COUGAR AND PECCARIES.
419
living animal. We could hear the rattle of his claws
in the loose bark, as he passed upward; and the pec-
cary, too, seemed to have heard it, for she threw up
her head with a grunt, and stood for a moment lis-
tening.
"' Only a squirrel, perhaps!' thought she, and
again resumed her occupation.
"The cougar now appeared coming from behind
the trunk; and, after looking cautiously about him,
commenced crawling out along the branch. On
reaching one of its forks, he gathered himself like a
cat; and then, with a terrific scream, sprang down
upon the back of his victim. His claws were buried
in her neck at the first dash; and his long body
covered hers—his hind-legs and tail wrapping around
her. The frightened animal uttered a shrill cry, and
struggled to free itself. Both rolled over the
ground—the peccary all the while gnashing its jaws,
and continuing to send forth its strange sharp cries,
until the woods echoed again. Even the young ones
ran around, mixing in the combat—now flung sprawl-
ing upon the earth, now springing up again, snapping
their little jaws, and imitating the cry of their mother.
The cougar alone fought in silence. Since the first
wild scream, not a sound had escaped him; but from


420
THE BATTLE OF
that moment his claws never relaxed their hold; and
we could see that with his teeth he was silently
tearing the throat of his victim.
"The combat did not last long—only a few mo-
ments. The peccary soon ceased to struggle, and
lay upon her side—still in the embrace of her terrible
adversary—who had now torn open the veins of the
neck, and was, silently and cat-like, lapping the warm
blood.
"With all the hostility which we now felt for the
cowardly cougar, we did not deem it prudent to inter-
fere. We knew that he would serve us just as he
was doing the peccary, if he only knew that we were
so convenient to him: and we therefore remained
perfectly still, not daring even to move a limb. He
was not thirty yards from us, for the struggle had
brought both him and his victim nearer to our tree.
I could have shot him as he lay crouching in the
enjoyment of his red meal; but I knew too well the
the uncertainty of killing such a muscular and
powerful animal with a rifle bullet; and I resolved
to let him finish his feast, and take himself off if he
would, without any hindrance on our part. We
were not allowed much time to think about it; for
the combat was hardly over, when strange voices


422
THE BATTLE OF
gnashing jaws, and shrill notes, they presented a
most formidable array.
"The cougar, seeing that his retreat was cut off—at
least, so long as he carried the carcass—flung off his
burden, and leaped upon the foremost of his advanc-
ing enemies, striking it to the ground with his huge
paws. He had not time to turn himself, however,
when several others fastened on him from behind;
and we could see the red fur fly from his sides, torn
up by their sharp tusks. Now came the struggle in
earnest. For a short while the cougar kept his
antagonists at bay—striking them down and tearing
them with teeth and claws; but at length the whole
herd closed upon him, and we could see the blood
streaming from his torn flanks. He now seemed to
fight as if wishing to make his way through them
and escape; but the peccaries, as active as himself,
hemmed him in their midst, surrounding him with
a dense mass of bodies and snapping jaws. Twice
or three times, the cougar sprang into the air—as if
to leap beyond the circle of his antagonists—but at
the same time several of these were also seen to
rear upward, and intercept him iu the spring. At
length, by a desperate effort, he succeeded in clearing
himself; and dashed out from among them, striving


424
THE BATTLE OF
were so suddenly placed. No wonder it was some
momenta before I could gather resolution enough to
act.
"At length, however, I bethought myself that of
the two enemies the cougar was certainly the worst.
We were safe from the peccaries so long as we
remained upon the tree, while we were at the mercy
of the other, go where we would. I resolved, there-
fore, to direct my energies toward the destruction of
the cougar.
"All this time, the latter had remained where he
had first perched himself in an upper fork of the tree.
He would, no doubt, have attacked us sooner had he
not dreaded the peccaries below; but he feared that
by springing at us he might precipitate himself
among them, and this kept him for the moment
quiet. I knew very well, however, that as soon as
the animals at the foot of the tree should take their
departure, our fate would be sealed.
"My companion was unarmed. He had brought
with him only his bow and arrows. These had been
left at the foot of the tree, and were already crunched
to pieces by the peccaries. I put him behind me,
therefore, so that he should be out of the way of the
cougar—in case I should only succeed in wounding


BESIEGED IN A TREE. 429
hopes that the night might call off our strange
hesiegers. Although we could hear them below us
still uttering their wild cries, and scratching against
the trunk of the tree, we now paid them no more
attention, but sat quietly upon our perch, confiding
in the hand of Providence to deliver us.
"We had been seated thus but a very short while,
when all at once we became conscious that there was
a bitter smoke rising around us. At first we had
taken it for the smoke which had been produced
by the firing of the rifle, and which had hung for
some time about the tree. Now we knew it could not
be that, for it was growing thicker and thicker, and
we noticed that it had a smell very different from that
of burnt powder. Moreover, it produced a stifling,
choking sensation, causing us to cough, and rub our
eyes with the pain. On looking downward, I was
unable to see either the ground or the peccaries; but
I could perceive a thick cloud rising up all around
the tree. I could hear the voices of the fierce brutes,
loud as ever; but they appeared to be scattering
outward, and their cry was different to what it had
hitherto been. It now occurred to me that the moss
had caught fire from the wadding of my rifle; and
this soon proved to be the fact, for the smoke all at


430
BESIEGED IN A TREE.
once became illuminated with a bright blaze that
seemed to spread almost instantaneously over the
surface of the ground. We saw that it did not
fully envelope the tree, but burned on that side where
we had thrown down the moss.
5' My companion and I scrambled out on the
branches to the opposite side—going as far as we
could to avoid the smoke. We feared, all the while,
that the hanging mass, or even the tree itself, might
catch fire, and force us to leap into the midst of
our enemies. Fortunately, however, we had clean
stripped those branches that hung directly over the
blazing heap; and as yet the flames did not mount
high enough to reach the others.
"When we had crawled beyond the blinding
smoke, we could distinguish the peccaries,- standing
in a thick mass at some distance from the tree, and
evidently somewhat terrified by the fire. 'Now,
thought I, 'we shall be delivered from them. They
will go off far enough to enable us to escape through
the smoke;' and with this intention, I commenced
reconnoitring the ground in the direction in which
the thick clouds were carried by the wind. I con-
cluded that none of the animals had gone in this
direction; and I saw that if we could leap down with-


BESIEGED IN A TREE.
431
out being seen, we might make off through the trees.
We were about descending upon a lower limb to
carry out this purpose, when a sound like the dis-
tant yelping of dogs broke upon our ears. It filled
us at once with a terrible foreboding. We knew
that it must be our own dogs; and we knew that
Harry or Cudjo, or perhaps both, would be coming
close upon their heels. I knew that the dogs would
soon be killed by the herd, and then poor Harry—
he would be at once torn to pieces! This was a
fearful thought, and Frank and I paused a mo-
ment, with palpitating hearts, to listen. Yes, it was
the dogs! We could hear them yelping and bark-
ing at intervals, and evidently coming nearer. The
next moment we could plainly distinguish voices, as
of people following upon the track of the dogs. The
voices could be no other than those of Harry and
Cudjo coming in search of us. I was irresolute how
to act. Should I allow them to come on, and while
the dogs might keep the peccaries engaged for a
moment, shout out and warn them to take to the
trees. It then occurred to me that I might leave
Frank where he was, and by making a sudden
rush through the smoke, get nearer to Harry and
Cudjo, and give them warning before the peccaries


THI REW Y9RC i
PUBLIC LIBRARY I
A8TOK,



Besieged by Peccaries.





BESIEGED IN A TREE.
433
Had it not been so, they would soon have suffered the
fate of the cougar; for the peccaries, fiercely enraged
in their short encounter with them, pursued them
hotly, and surrounded the tree into which they had
been lucky enough to climb.
"I was now left to myself. From the position I oc-
cupied I could not see Hany, Cudjo, or the mastiffs;
but I could see the black herd that was around them.
I could hear all that passed—the howling of the
dogs—the voices of Harry and Cudjo—the vengeful
notes of the peccaries, all ringing together in a wild
concert. Then I heard the crack of the little rifle,
and I saw one of tbe animals tumble over upon the
ground. I heard the shouts of Cudjo, and I could
see the blade of his long spear lounging down at
intervals among the dark bodies below. I could see
that it streamed with blood; and that numbers of
the animals were falling to the earth. Again came
the crack of Harry's rifle, again the loud barking of
the dogs, and again the shouts of Cudjo, as he stood
upon the lowermost branches, and plied his terrible
weapon. And thus for some minutes raged the battle,
until I could see the ground fairly strewed with black
and bleeding forms. Only a few of the peccaries
remained upon their feet; and these at length, becom-
F F


434 BESIEGED IN A TREE.
ing alarmed by the fearful slaughter of their com-
panions, turned away from the tree, and fled into the
thick underwood. It was plain that they were de-
feated, and would not again molest us; and feeling
confident of this, we all descended from our trees,
and made our way to the house as quickly as we
could, so as to relieve the anxiety of my wife.
"Although we often afterwards met a few of the
peccaries in our hunting excursions, and had the
fortune to capture some of their young—they never
from that time offered to attack us, but always endea-
voured to escape. It is the nature of this animal to
fight bravely with an enemy until conquered, when
it will always afterwards run at his approach. In
fact, there appeared to be but one herd of them in the
valley; and as that had been nearly destroyed, we
found them in future both scarce and shy.
"Next day we returned, well armed, for our opos-
sum and her young, which in our hurry we had quite
forgotten. We found, to our mortification, that the
cunning animal had gnawed off her fastenings, and
escaped, with her whole brood.





438 AN ADVENTURE WITH DUSKY WOLVES.
of a large rail as I ran, while Cudjo hurried forward,
brandishing his spear. Mary, with presence of mind,
turned back into the house for my rifle.
"I saw that Harry was foremost, and that the
fierce pursuers were fast closing upon Frank. This
was strange, for we knew that Frank was by far the
best skater. We all called out to him, uttering con-
fused shouts of encouragement. Both were bearing
themselves manfully, but Frank was most in danger.
The wolves were upon his heels!' 0 God! they
will devour him!' I cried in my agony, expecting
the next moment to see him torn down upon the ice.
What was my joy at seeing him suddenly wheel, and
dart off in a new direction, with a shout of triumph!
The wolves, thus nimbly eluded, now kept after
Harry—who in turn became the object of our anxiety.
In a moment they were upon him; but he, already
warned by his brother, wheeled in a similar manner;
while the fierce brutes, carried along by the impetus
of their race, swept to a considerable distance upon
the ice before they could turn themselves. Their
long bushy tails, however, soon enabled them to veer
round in the new direction, and they gallopped after
Harry, who was now the nearest to them. Frank,
in the meantime, had again turned, and came sweep-


440
AN ADVENTURE WITH DUSKY WOLVES.
ice! Cudjo and I ran shouting forward, and with
the heavy rail and long spear commenced dealing
death amongst them. It was but a short, though
exciting scene. Five of them were speared and
drowned; while the sixth succeeded in crawling
out upon the ice, and was making off, frightened
enough at the cold ducking he had got. I thought he
was going to escape us, but at that moment I heard
the crack of a rifle from behind, and the wolf tumbled
over, howling like a shot hound. On turning around,
I saw Harry with my rifle, which Mary had brought
down during the encounter, and which she had in-
trusted to Harry as a better marksman than her-
self. The wolf was still only wounded, kicking
furiously about upon the ice; but Cudjo now ran
out, and, after a short struggle, finished the busi-
ness with his spear.
"That was a day of great excitement in our
little community. Frank, who was the hero of
the day, although he said nothing, was not a little
proud of his skating feat. And well might he,
as, but for his manoeuvres, poor Harry would un-
doubtedly have fallen a prey to the fierce wolves.


TAMING THE GREAT ELK.
441
CHAPTER XLIII.
TAMING THE GREAT ELK.
"On the third year our beavers had increased to
such numbers, that we saw it was time to thin
them off, and commence laying up our store of
furs. They had grown so tame that they would
take food from our hands. We had no difficulty,
therefore, in capturing those we intended to kill,
without giving alarm to the others. For this pur-
pose we constructed a sort of penn, or bye-pool,
with raised mud banks, near the edge of the lake,
and a sluice-gate leading into it. Here we were
accustomed to feed the animals; and whenever a
quantity of roots of the swamp sassafras was thrown
into the pool, a large number of the beavers crowded
into it, so that we had nothing else to do but shut
down the sluice-gate, and catch them at our leisure.
We accomplished all this very quietly; and as


442
TAMING THE GREAT ELK.
none that we trapped were ever allowed to go
back and 'tell the tale,' and as at all other seasons
the trap was open and free, of course the surviving
beavers, with all their sagacity, never knew what
became of their companions, and did not even ap-
pear to suspect us of foul play, but remained tame
as ever.
"In our first crop of skins we laid by, at least
4502. worth, with more than 502. worth of 'casto-
reum.' In our second year we were enabled to do
still better; and the produce of that season we esti-
mate at 10002. Wanting a place to dry and store
our furs, we built a new log-cabin, which is the one
we are now living in. The old one became our
store-house.
"The third year of our trapping was quite as
productive as the second; and so with the fourth
and fifth. Each of them yielded, at least, 10002.
worth of furs and 'castoreum;' so that our old
cabin now contains 4500Z. of property, which we
have taken care to keep in good condition. Besides,
we estimate our live stock in the dam, which we
can trap at any time, at 25002. more; so that, you
see, we are worth in all 70 002. at this moment.
Do you not think, my friends, that we have realized


TAMING THE GREAT ELK.
445
in safety, where was the money wherewith to pur-
chase these animals? I had not enough to buy either
ox or ass. The people of New Mexico would have
laughed at me.
"' Let us be patient,' advised my wife. 'We are
happy where we are. When the time arrives, and
we are ready to go forth, trust that the hand which
brought us here can and will guide us safely back again.'
"With such words of consolation my noble wife
always ended our conversation on that subject.
"I looked upon her words as almost prophetic;
and so they proved in this case, as on many other
occasions.
"One day—it was about the fourth year of our
sojourn in the valley—we were talking on this very
theme; and Mary, as usual, had just expressed her
firm reliance upon the hand of Providence to deliver
us from our strange captivity, when our conversation
was interrupted by Harry, who came running into
the house breathless with haste, and with looks full
of triumph.
"' Papa! mamma!' cried he; 'two elks—twoyoung
elks—taken in the trap! Cudjo is bringing them
on in the cart,—two beautiful young elks, about as
big as year-old calves.'


TAMING THE GREAT ELK.
"There was nothing very new or strange in this
announcement. We had captured elk in the pit-fall
before; and we had several of them in our park —
old ones. It was the fact of their being 'young elk,'
—a sort we had not yet taken—which had put Harry
into an unusual state of excitement.
"I thought nothing of it at the moment, but went
out along with Mary and the children to have a look
at our new pets.
"While Cudjo and the boys were engaged in put-
ting them into the park, all at once I remembered
what I had read of, but which had hitherto escaped
my memory—that the great American elk is capable
of being trained as a beast either of draught or
burden.
"I need hardly tell you, my friends, that this
thought at once led to a series of reflections. Could
these elk be trained to draw a wagon?—to draw us
out of the Desert?
"I lost no time in communicating my thoughts to
my wife. She, too, had read of this — in fact, in a
London menagerie, had seen the elk in harness. The
thing, therefore, was practicable. We resolved to
use every effort to make it so.
"Let me not weary you, my friends, with details.


448
CATCHING THE WILD HORSES.
CHAPTER XLIV.
CATCHING THE WILD HORSES.
"We had accomplished a great object. Nothing
remained but to train a sufficient number of elk for
our purpose. We trapped several fawns, and Cudjo
proceeded in breaking them as he had done the
others.
"At this time, however, an event occurred which
verified my wife's prediction still more clearly, and
proved that the hand of God was over and around us.
"One morning, a little after daybreak, and just
before we had risen, we were all thrown into a state
of consternation by a noise that came from without.
It was the trampling of hoofs—of many hoofs; and
there was no difficulty in perceiving that horses
were about the house. Their neighing proved this—
for Pompo had neighed in his stable, and we could
hear a dozen of them uttering their loud responses.