lOi/ lidkl iT^^ 'a:A| I LIBRARY OF COKGRESS/ } UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, f :^mw'.^..:^W ^^.-■wmj^^r^HM ,a..aV.*^ \rri^' \mhn ■/!A' > .''isP.^iia ''aK»«P /^^'^»^, ^^a:aA.A ■O^aa,/., A . A*^ , A ^ ^ V A /^ A«Ar\Q ^Aa ^;r^^ ^_^M:^i^M^^^J<^.^l^' -^. Y^ZlA^ MRS. BRIGADIER GEN. EGBERT LVIElE. * PIULADELmiA. PETERSON & BROTHER Price 50 Cents. r^ followiing the drum. BY MRS. BRIGADIER GEN. EGBERT L. VIELE. " Oh, the drum— it rattles su louJ : There's no such stirring sound Is heard the wide world raund, As the drum .^^—Riickert. " Oh, there's not a trade that's going Worth showing ! or knowing • Like that from glory growing ! For a Bowld Sojer Boy .'"— OZd Song. /C. PHILADELPHIA: T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS, 3 6 C H E S T N U T S T R E E T. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, liy T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS, In the Clerk'8 Office of the District Court of the United States, iu and f.r tU( Eastern District of Pennsvlvania. -/ $. is.:'--' \*^ fC FOLLOWING THE DRUM. yy CHAPTEE I. ENLISTING. " There's not a trade a going ; Worth knowing ! or showing! Like that from glory growing 1" No recruit ever entered the service with more enthusiasm than I did, or felt more eager to prove himself a soldier. Military glory, in all its varied phases, had charmed and dazzled me from childhood. My beau-ideal hero would have completely lost his identity without his sword and epaulets, and as for my beau-ideal heroine, the Maid of Sara- gossa was a poor, tame, spiritless creature com- pared to her. (19) 20 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. Mars would have gloried in the wonderful female that my imagination loved to paint, and to follow her heroic footsteps seemed a high ambition. She was a kind of tough, weather-proof. In- dia-rubber woman, " Six feet high — Grand, epic, homicidal," who could travel over hundreds of miles of prairie on horseback, or follow the train for months on top of a baggage- waggon. Familiar intercourse with the most savage tribes of Indians was nothing to her I Human sympathy, food, or rest, were mere frivolous weaknesses, necessities of our fallen nature, which she banished from her high-strung mind. A strong energy of character sustained her through the direst emergencies, nothing could unstring her dauntless nerves. The allurements of dress, petty artifices, tears, or any other little feminine failings she scorned contemptuously! Tlie many minor ills of life she smiled at sardonically. FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 21 "The regiment" adored her, and her children (if she had any) were embrvo soldiers, arrayed in military baby clothes, cradled in a disabled drmn, tucked in with a piece of " star-spangled banner," and teething on a drumstick. I saw her the witness of many a thrilling and gory scene, with the din of battle in her ear, and stern endurance on her brow. With this vision before my eyes, I enlisted " to folloAV the drum !" How many bright dreams of adventure, how much that was delightful and romantic in anti- cipation now opened before me ; all that was fascinating in peril in the wild life of the fron- tier, rose before my mind in strong and vivid coloring. The " worldly goods" with which I was endowed in Grace Church, the day of my enlist- ment, consisted of a mortgage on a camp- kettle, mess chest, bundle of canvas, and set of tent i)oles, which awaited me at a distant frontier station. Even these few luxuries !-eemed superliuons to so ardent a campaigner. How was I to live for my country, if I thought too m'lich of |>cri-:oiial comfort? the idea waa too 22 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. trifling and effeminate to be considered for an instant; like the French princess, I felt equal to living on cake, in a dearth of bread and butter ! It is true my early training had not been a peculiarly Spartan preparation for endurance and hardship ; on the contrary, it would pro- bably have been regarded with stern disap- proval by those strict disciplinarians, yet this was more reason for feeling sanguine. "What is more impracticable than the antici- pations of youth? Invariably exaggerated — invariably disappointed. Those faded leaves rustling mourni'ully through the bleak autumn forests, are the same which, in early sj)riijg-time, put forth a delicate ver- dure, to gladden tlie summer with their beauty. So experience dimmed the roseate hue of my early day dreams, yet they have been suffi- ciently realized to tempt a record of them. The usual course adopted with recruits is, when a sufficient number are collected, to stow them away in the recesses of a dark old ship, and start them off, to be distributed among the different regimentrt in the field But having FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 23 selected a particular arm of tlie service I was at liberty to join at leisure, in fact, allowed a short reprieve before going upon active duty, and im- proved the opportunity to revisit that mammoth trap, otherwise called West Point, where the couleur de rose of army-life serves as a bait for the unsophisticated, where reality wears the gloss of romance, and military glory appears in its brightest holiday dress, accompanied by all the poetry of war. Most delusive spot, where even the atmo- sphere seems heavily freighted with martial music and martial association. This was not the place to chill a military ardor, but rather to foster it to the utmost. Our young country, generally so barren of historical association, here presents a strong con- trast to that deficiency. Shades of departed heroes haunt each wooded mountain, and remi- niscences of " Those great spiiits, that went down like suns, And left upon the mountain-tops of death, A light that made them lovely," hallow this nursery of Bellona. 24 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. Sculptured mouument!^, ruined fortiebs, and crumbling battlement, traces of a glorious past, eerve as beacons to guide the stripling soldier to a glorious future. Like a pilgrim at tlie shrine of Mecca, in after years I revhsit this spot, associated with a youthful admiration of a military life, and not even the dark "background of stern reality, that I had seen, could dim its loveliness. West Point, beautiful West Point, how bright are the memories of those who associate their " Love's Young Dream'' with thee ! I would gladly have transferred my newly ac- quired canvas and camp-kettles from Texas to this place, and pitched a tent here for life, had fate and the commander-in-chief so ordained ; but it was otherwise arranged by these mighty powers, probably for the reason that the best soldiers were needed on the frontier, the post of danger being the post of honor, as the flower of chivalry is proverbially placed in the van- guard ! The reprieve was longer than had been anti- cipated, and an indolent summer pa^ssed, before F L I. (J W I X G T U E I) K U M . 26 orders for duty were received, lingering over the wild woodland beauties of Trenton Falls, and at that glorious indescribable Niagara, with a sail across Lake Erie to Detroit, then th^ home of General Brady (that aged warrior and veteran of eighteen hundred and twelve). Although past the allotted age of three score years and ten, he drove himself some miles to see, what he was pleased most poetically to term me, " a young pilgrim bound for the land of the Camanches." His fatherly benedictions were quite over- powering. Awaiting our return from Detroit, at Nia- gara, was a voluminous package from Washing- ton, having an alarmingly oflacial appearance. It proved to be the first orders for military duty. They were decidedly differetit from what had been expected ; instead of summons to " the tented field," they were instructions to proceed without loss of time to Burlington, Yermont, and there 1o establish a recruiting rendezvous to enlist soldiers for Uncle Sam. Eather common-place business compared to what had been antici- pated. 2f6 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. I knew Yermont by name, and that it waa painted green on the atlas at school ; there was a time when its cities, rivers, and mountains had b4en learned by rote, and repeated with the singular velocity peculiar to extreme youth, in happy unconsciousness of their real location, or anything definite in relation to them. Later in life I had heard casual mention made of " Yermont horses," and " Green Mountain boys," but here all knowledge on the subject came to a dead stand-still, and I felt quite eager for the hour to arrive, that would give me a clearer insight into this terra incognita. "We left Niagara immediately, took a steam- er at Queenston for Montreal, and after a de- lightful sail of twenty-four hours across Lake Ontario (which, in its vast expanse of waters, seems more like the ocean than an inland sea), we entered the waters of the St. Lawrence. The sail down its rapids is disagreeably excit- ing ; the boat seems threatened every moment to be dashed to pieces, as the pilot skilfully guides it through these perilous mazes. The river rushes impatiently, fretting over the bed F O L L () ^V I X G THE DRUM. 27 of rocks wliicli impedes its course, until it readies its thousand isles, wliere it seems to pause, to flow lovingly around their beautiful banks. They are very beautiful ; some spreading out for miles in emerald meadow lands, and some only large enough to form the bed of a single forest tfee, their banks edged with long grasses, intermingled with wild flowers, drooping over and reflecting graceful fringes in the translucent waters below. At this point the river seems almost loath to pass on, and does so lingeringly,. until it gradu- ally widens into a broad, clear, majestic flow, wider and wdder, until it merges itself into that ocean, which at its outset it seemed so eagerly impatient to reach. Towards evening of the third day after leav- ing Niagara, we arrived at Montreal, where we stopped for a few days to rest. The un-Ameri- can air of this place is very striking. In some parts the streets are very narrow, which, com- bined ^vith the steep roofs of the houses, gives it the air of an old French provincial town. The 28 F o L L o w I X a r ii !•: d r u m . inixtare of French and English inhabitants^ cDinniingling in their domestic habits the ens- ■ tonis of their native lands, makes a strange Jy(>^ pourri of manners. However, the peculiar characteristics of each seem uninfluenced by the other. It would seem as impossible for these two nations to amalgamate, as for oil and water to unite. The happy faculty of adapting one's prejudices to circumstances seems a pecu- liarly American trait, and may almost be re- garded as the national characteristic ; tlie result probably of the gathering together of so many nationalities under the out-spread winge of that responsible fowl, the Apis of this people One morning we went to the convent of '* Lef Soeurs Grises," and were shown all over the vene- rable pile by quite a pretty sister. In an exqui- site little Gothic chapel they were celebrating mass for the soul of a priest who had recently died. We paused at the door, and silently lis- tened to the swell of rich harmony that came rolling in deep volumes from the organ, and tilled the air with its full solemn cadence. St. Cecilia herself might have been touching the FOLLOWIXG THE DRUM. 29 keys, so inspired tlie strains tliat were poured forth, first in the low, sad, praverfal plead- ings of fallen humanity, and then in the loud triumphant swell of '' the angels around the throne." Before we left, I asked our guide wliy she had become a nun. With downcast eves, and a sanctified smile, she replied, that " like Mary, she had chosen the better part !" Tlie " better part" is not always the pleasantest, I thought, if wearing a scanty grey gown, and being shut up for life within four stone walls, praying for the forgiveness of sins you never have a chance to commit, constitutes it ; and with these rather carnal reflections I passed out of the massive gates, fancying the heavy air that we left behind must have derived some of its oppressive influ- ence from the many sighs for libei-ty that had for years been borne on it. We left Montreal the next morning in the cars for Lake Champlain. ]^ot those miserably contrived cars filled with an indiscriminate crowd of males and females, arrayed in that brown linen uniform, the national costume of 30 FOLLOWING T IT E D RUM. the travelling American people, where liigh and low sit side bj side ; where the dirty woman with a disagreeably large band-box, and the man who regales himself all too profusely on " plug," seem to vie which shall most contribute to your annoyance ; but the private European coupee, in which, at some slight difference of expense, a person can travel as if in his <>\\ u carriage. I have often been surprised, when suffering from travelling annoyances, that in the advancement of luxury these cars have never been introduced upon our railroads. Stopping at St. John's (the port of entry ot Lower Canada), a military station at that time unoccupied (its spreading, empty barracks look- ing very desolate, with no sounds of life to break the stillness around), we changed cars, and in a short time reached the wharf, and went on board the steamer that was to take us down Lake Champlain, to the point of our destination. This lake is celebrated even in our land^ so rich in the picturesque and grand, for the bold and beautiful scenery of its banks. The gigantic mountains seem piled in vast rocky F O L L O ^ I N Tx T IT E DRUM. 31 masses, stretcliing from the water's edge inio the clouds, almost beyond sight, their shadows reflected in the lake, as in an aznre-tinted mirror. The sloping mountain sides, with deep, wild dells and waterfalls, and piles of fir-clad rocks ; tlie peaceful grain-decked valleys, with rivulets, and towns, and villages discernible among them, formed an ever changing picture of rural beauty. Towards afternoon we came in siglit of Bur- lington, situated on the banks of the lake, and nestling in the arms of lofty mountain ranges, still clothed in their primeval forests ; where the deer and wild animals yet hold possession, and are only intruded upon by the occasional adventurous huntsman. The bank on which the town lies, is high above the level of the water ; the lake, like a silver sheet glittering at its feet, spreads far away, till lost in the base of the mountains that surround it, and whose hundred streams feed its wealth of waters. ^ F T. L O W I X (T T U !■: 1) }i IT >I CHAPTEK II. KECRUITING. To one wliose life lias been past?ed in the bus- tling, noisy din of a large city, where every- body that you meet in tlie crowded streets seems eagerly bent on tlie pursuit of some ob- ject that must be attained, if possible, before mghtfall ; where eitlier hope, or disappoint- ment, or harassing care is stamped on almost every face ; there is a novel charm in a sudden change to rural life ; a delicious serenity in the atmosphere of a country village, a re23ose in the calm movements of its inhabitants ; the shaded, impaved streets (cool in the heat of midsummer) ; the neat green courtyards, and nicely- trimmed flower-beds (from which the smell of pinks, and daisies, and cottage roses seems to breathe out " sweet simplicity "), that is almost incredible. FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 83 Few signs of life or animation are to be seen ill those quiet cottage homes. Occasionally, perhaps, at the back door of the vine-shaded piazza, a placid old lady, seated in her low rocking-chair shelling peas, stopped for a mo- ment by the sight of a humming-bird too dar- ing in its demonstrations to the roses, or a stray fowl in the flower-beds. These will be the events of the day to her, in her quiet, unevent- ful existence. We smile at its quaint simpli- city, but perhaps a sigh of regret is mingled for a moment with our smile. I supposed that Burlington was one of those simple, unexciting little places, as in time it proved to be, but the first impressions were anything but calm or soothing, as early on the following morning I looked from the windows of the "True American," through a greenish pane of glass, and through a still more refract- ing misty rain. Under these depressing influ- ences I saw what appeared to be the most mise- j-able of " one horse towns." A square inclosed by a whitewashed wooden raib'ng, rendered a disagreeable grey by the 34 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. rain, oi-iiamented witli a pole in the centre, STir- nionnted by one of the numerous and widely- diffused coiffures of the goddess of liberty, and surrounded by the principal stores of the place — • this formed the view outside, occasionally ani- mated by one of the damp, moist population, picking their way over the grass-grown brick pavements. The inside of the hotel was a degree more insufferable, and by way of rendering my gloom more pitiable, the well-meaning landlady pro- vided several "Lady's Books" for my amuse- ment, the contents of which, however, were Buch a reflection upon even the limit'ed capaci- ties of " ladies" that they gave only fresh cause for aggravation. A gentleman travelling for pleasure, who arrived there the second day after we did, was taken ill and died in the room next to mine, which incident, although perhaps tending to produce a salutary mental influence, was in no way cheering to depressed spirits. After a fair test of a week, spent in reflec- tions of the most gloomy nature on the iHs of life in general, and those of a life in Burlington in FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 35 particular, it was decided that life at the '^ True American- ' was unendurable, and hy good luck a cottage was secured on the outskirts of the town. It was everything that could be desired ; the velvet lawn in front was green and closely sha- ven, rose vines clung gracefully around the porch, and not even a cynic could have ima- gined love contemplating a leap from the latticed window, or another grim visitor with his hand on the old-fashioned knocker. In the rear was a well inclosed with trellis-work, whose moss- covered buckets looked cool and tempting, sug- gesting, however, to a practical mind that new ones must be immediately obtained, in spite of the romantic charm thrown by the poet around " The moas-covered bucket that hung in the well." The only drawback to taking immediate pos- session of this attractive spot was the fact of its being quite devoid of furniture ; but we were told that this deficiency could be speedily re- medied, by a cleverish sort of fellow named Koble Lovely (which was literally his cogno- men). He was immediately applied to, and 8^ FOLLOWING THE DRUM., after an incredible space of time spent in ask- ing questions, lie cast liis eyes around upon his household gods, and said : " Well, neow, what would jou think of a second-hand red plush sofj, and a yellow chanie spittoon to begin with?" This proposal was beyond human en- durance, and as these articles were not consi- dered absolutely indispensable in an unpretend- ing menage, it was deemed advisable to with- draw, which induced Mr. Lovely to speedily make the necessary arrangements ; and, to use the technical Yankee expression, " the bargain was closed," to the inexpressible delight of the shrewd and (not over) Xoble Lovely, who " real- ized quite a little considerable " in consequence. From the first I imbibed a strong dislike to this class. I do not think these feelings were en- tirely without foundation. In fact I may candidly confess, that I never could feel the necessary degree of enthusiasm in reference to our Kew England brethren, or their fundamental principles of the innate depravity of the Pope, intense sympathy for tliat colored " army of martyrs" south of Mason and Dixon's FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 87 line, or the infallibility of the pilgrim fathers. On the contrary, I conceive the Pope may be an excellent good man, that those suffering and bleeding bondsmen may have an occasional ray of sunshine on their dreary path of life, and that the way in which the heroes of Plymouth Pock burned Quakers and eccentric old ladies was, to say the least, imamiable. We all, however, have our prejudices, in com- mon with them, and I suppose, would hardly be human without them. Six months, comprising the severest of the year, were passed in Burlington in ardent endeavors to add to the United States forces as many deserters from the ranks of her majesty of England, as could persuade the re- cruiting sergeant they were regularly dis- charged, and the doctor that they were " able bodied." They were a reckless set of men, generally under five-and-twenty years of age, a collection probably of black sheep from as many different families ; some of them well educated, and un- doubtedly of highly respectable parentage. I 88 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. can give them the highest diploma for gal- lantry. In fact there seems to be something in a uni- form that calls forth this quality in its wearer in the highest degree. Apply a uniform to a man, and like a mustard plaster, it seems to draw all that is inflammable to the surface. One or another of the recruits was always at hand, and in turn they scoured the country to get anything that it was not easy to obtain in the town. I often pitied them as they flaunted about in their gay trappings (like sheep dressed for the slaughter), to think how soon their exist- ence would probably terminate, on some march across the prairies, in the sickly swamps of Florida, or on the perilous Indian scout, shot by the poisoned arrow of a Camanche or Sioux. Between them and the gamins of Burlington, there existed a continual feud. One of the re- cruits (whose bump of combativeness was so wonderfully developed that it kept continually knocking his cap off his head, unless he resorted to a strap) had to be sent off, so constantly were his pugnacious tendencies exhibited in FOLLOWING TFTE DRUM 89 heading what he graphically termed "little heat ups " or " knock downs," between the con- tending parties. The soldiers were called U. S. males (mails) bj their opponents, who even went so far as to make distant allusions to the Serjeant's wife as a U. S. female. This remark was followed by an exciting row, which terminated in a series of mutilations and dark rims around the visual organs of most of the gallant recruits, a squad of whom were' forthwith despatched to Fort Cohimb us— among them, that troublesome but " hold soldier boy " with \\\Q annoying cap, who, it was discovered, hailed from Kilkenny, which most satisfactorily accounted for the excrescences behind his ears. 40 FOLLOWING 1 H E D R C M CHAPTEK Til. BUKLINGTON. Startling incidents never occurred in Bur- lington. Kone ever had occurred there, and none probably ever will. The advent of a stranger was an important event, so few peo])le ever came there. A stray artist, or lingering traveller, fascinated by the shadows of the Adirondack, as they fell into tlie lake, or an occasional acquaintance passing through on tlie way from the White Mountains to Saratoga, were always welcome visitors. The most unfailing resource was driving aud riding. The beautiful scenery, the bracing October air, and the forest-clad mountains, arrayed in their autumnal robes of crimson, amethyst, and royal pui-ple, rendered out-of- door exercise peculiarly exhilarating and attrac- tive. F L L O W I X G THE DRUM. 41 The term "Yermont horses" was soon after our arrival most potently realized in the pos- session of a pair of dapple greys worthy of the horse-flesh reputation of their native State, wdth arching necks, long silken manes and tails, eyes full of spirit, and feet that seemed to disdain the ground. To drive them was emphatically " driving a team !" They went miles and miles every day, like the wind, either in harness or under the saddle, and were the " Green Moun- tain boys" that left the deepest impression on my heart. Country pleasures are enchanting, if we can forget the more alluring ones of a civilized metropolis ! One of the most attrac- tive drives in the neighborhood is over a fine, well-beaten road to Kock Point, the picturesque residence of Bishop Hopkins, of the Episcopal church of this State. His place is beautifully situated north of the town, on a small promon- tory that stretches into the lake. It is a farm of some extent ; the drive from the gate to the house, of about a quarter of a mile, through a park and lawn (that owe much to Nature and little to Art for their woodland beauties^ is 42 FOLLOWING THE DRUM quite imposing. Fine forest trees, scattered in groups, abound all over tlie domain. Tlie house is quite un]Dretending, but its situation is mag- nificent, commanding a view of the lake, and the town of Burlington in the distance, with a gorgeous background of mountain scenery, made up of the numerous bright lights and deep sha- dows peculiar to this region of country. The interior of the house bears impress of the home of the scholar and man of taste ; the library opening on a piazza by an enormous oriel window, from which, through clambering honeysuckle vines, you can enjoy one of the grandest pictures ever sketched by nature on earth's fair tablet. The walls (.)f the library are covered with paintings, the work of the artistic hand of Bishop H., who is generally to be found sitting in this room at his desk, writing tracts and religious essays for the press, to send forth into the world from his secluded home, like the sower of holy writ casting forth his seed. His tall athletic Ibrni, grey hair, somewhat stern expression of countenance and rigid views FOLLOWING THE BRUM. 43 of life, reminded me of the apostles of old, or om- Huguenot fathers, who so readily sacrificed their worldly interests " for conscience sake." The autumn soon deepened into the gloom of November, the weather became cold and bleak. The around was strewn with fallen leaves. The " Wind, that grand old harper, smote His thunder harp of pmes." Soon the earth arrayed itself in a holiday attire of six feet of dazzling snow, the trees brilliant with icicles shone radiantly in the sun- light, and the hardy little snow birds, scattered over this brilliant carpet of the north, were the only vestige of the summer that had fled into the past — while the gay inspiriting sound of sleigh-bells seemed to give warning that the season for Christmas festivities was approach- ing. The morning after the first snow-storm we awoke in utter darkness, and found ourselves completely embedded in snow, which reached to the top of the second story windows ; but by noon eight or ten of the gallant recruits had cut 41- F O L I> O \V I V G T H E D R U M a passage to the house, and removed the greater part of the snow-drift in which we had been buried alive. The sleighing was unsurpassable, but the in- tense cold of the frosty cutting air spoiled the enjoyment of it. At times exposure was next to impossible ; the thermometer fifteen degrees below zero was no uncommon thing. Any one who has passed a winter in the northern part of Vermont on the side of one of its bleak moun- tains, and on the shores of its great lake, would not be surprised that Sir John Franklin has never been discovered, but that any human being has ever returned alive from the arctic regions of '' Jack Frost." Christmas was heralded by sleigh-loads of evergreens driven towards the church, and even candies and penny toys made their appearance in the shop-windows to tempt this prudent race from their wonted frugality. The arrival of several American officers, de- tained here by a storm on their way to a court- martial, and the presence of several young Oa- nadiau guardsmen bound to New York for a F O L L W T X G THE P R U \f . 45 "spree,'' tempted me to essay a Christmas-Eve. ball. The house was decorated with evergreens, and on truly republican principle there was not a pretty girl in Burlington who was not asked. On the appointed evening at about seven o'clock (sweet simplicity !) the guests com- menced to arrive. Two fiddlers and a drummer- boy, with a cold in his head, formed the band ; the ball termi- nated at midnight, proving a great success. It was however quite late in the small hours, before our officers and the " royal Canadian guardsmen" had drunk their last libation to the Queen, and " Jimmy Polk of Tennessee." They finally parted, with many promises of soon meeting again ; but in the army, such promises amonnted to an absurdity, for beyond " Wafts of soug From arm-linked youths as they meandered home 1" and severa-l card^ containing five oi- six aristo- 46 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. cratic names apiece, we have neter heard from them since. A few months saw iis on the confines ot Mexico, while they were journeying towards the burning plains of India. One individual who figured on this occasion is worth a word of notice. A person represent- ing himself as an English gentleman, travelling in this country for amusement and information, had arrived in Burlington that autumn, and taken rooms at the hotel. Although not a par- ticularly attractive or agreeable man, he was not the opposite, and in dearth of other society, became quite a habitue at some of the most respectable citizens' houses. He had a dog-cart, horses, guns, and pointers, and professed to bo a great sportsman. He was very devoted in his attentions to a young Canadian girl, and a hand- some widow, who were considered by the public to be rivals, between whom this gay deceiver was wavering. He had had very extensive dealings with tlie bank, which at first imposed on the community, and then excited suspicion. One day he sud- FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 47 deiily disappeared, and no traces of him were to be found, leaving his lady-loves disconsolate, and carrying with him qnite a sum of money that he had obtained by fraud. The following year he was traced to a seclud- ed western village, where a repetition of similar amorous and financial performances had render- ed suspicion certainty, and jfinally lodged him safely in a penitentiary, where he could expiate his rascality by the harmless pastime of hewing stone or making shoes. It is easy to picture him in the mind's eye, in a woven wool round- about and trousers, one yellow leg and arm, and one black, with a cap to match, pursuing the even tenor of his way on a daily meal of bean broth and ship biscuit, his conversation limited to an occasional whisper through the register tubes to the prisoner in the next cell, at the risk of a severe penalty for even this slender mode of communication with his kind. I never could define this j)erson's position ; no aspirated h betrayed the low-born Englishman, and, judging by his conversation, his education must liave been quite superior ; banking and 48 F L L O W I X a T H K DRUM. the fair sex were evidently his weaknesses, and the rocks on which lie foundered. Yariety is to life what rum is to an omelette ; it gives it piquancy, or to be still more original, it is its spice ; and at the time I thought, if I had stayed at home, I never should have come in contact with that peculiar specimen of ornitho- logy yclept a jail bird. After events, however, proved that candidates at least for this position were not so rare, even in a I^ew York drawing- room, as the unsophisticated might suppose. '' He who runs may read !'' FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 49 CHAPTER ly. In January orders arrived from Washington to break np the recruiting rendezvous at Bur- lington, and join the fii*st regiment of United States Infantry at Ringgold Barracks, Texas, on the Lower Rio Grande. After tlie arrival of a dispatch of this nature from the War Department, there is no time al- lowed to pause and reflect. Prompt obedience is the first lesson a soldier must learn. " Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Tlieirs but to do and die.'" So, after twenty-four hours' notice, we quitted Burlington for ever, passing down the lake on a dismal winter day, the steamer breaking with difficulty through fields of ice that blocked its passage to Whitehall, where we were detained 50 F U L L O A V I N G T HE D R U M . several lioiirrf, waiting for the nortliern train r>f cars tliat was to convey its to Albany. Wliite- liall lies at tlie foot of Lake Cliamplain, in the State of 'New York. During the short time ! T. O \V T N G T H E DRUM. 7 1 race set up a gentlemen's furnishing store, next door to the halls of the Montezumas, and put out placards advertising " gents' patent arm- slings,'' and " the only genuine gunshot- wound pain exterminator," warranted to cure at short- est notice ! There was at the time naturally a great demand for these articles, and if that son of jSTew England did not " realise'^ something it was owing to no lack of effort on his part. We visited a cigar manufactory, and saw "the weed" in every variety of form, and in every stage, from the original article, fresh from the fields, to the crisp little cigaritos, lying together in tempting bunches, and tied with yellow and crimson ribbons, in boxes labelled "Santa Kosa," "Opera," &c. &c. They were soon to be outward bound from their native land — destined to fill the pauses of life to many a club lounger, to accompany reverie, and impart bliss generally to tlie happy mortals into whose possession fate might throw them. The markets of Havana at this season were naturally attractive places ; one department for flowers, fruit, and birds, was very interest- 72 F L T. W I N G THE DRUM. iiig and reiVesliing, attended entirely by re- gresses. ■ Tlie object that most attracted my attention, and left the deepest impression on my mind, while in Havana, was the tomb of Christopher Colnmbns, the discoverer of this island. IS^early four centmies have passed since then. It was within the last of these that his remains w^ere removed from Spain to one of the minor West India islands, but found a final grave in Ha- vana. This fair young world that revealed itself first to his enraptured vision, seems a more fitting resting-place for its discoverer than ungrateful Spain or the land that gave him birth. He had always been one of my favorite heroes, and I had loved to dwell on his almost inspired career — the high- wrought enthusiasm that led him to imagine it his mission to dis- cover a ISTew World — that glowing ima^na* tion that was but the pioneer to great deeds. Impelled by fate to the performance of this work, to execute it in spite of the conflicting influ- ences, at first of discouragement, and then of the FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 73 mutiny of his shrinking and treaelierous com- panions; totally unsympathized with by these terror-stricken men in the yast unknown deserts of ocean ; yet, in spite of their threats, urging on his frail bark, and finally landing in safety on the Kew World's shore — one of the snb- limest triumphs ever afforded to man, borne with nnparalleled modesty ! Tliere is no combination of character so ad- mirable, to my mind, as that whicii unites prac- tical common-sense, strong energy, and firmness of purpose with a glowing and enthusiastic imagination. A mind that can disregard the misrepre- sentations and discouragements of an unjust im- appreciatiye public, manfully figlit its way through adyerse circumstances, smiling at the follies of a w^orld that misunderstands it; con- fident in a conscious truth and honesty of pur- pose, pursuing a steadfast undeyiating course, uninfluenced but by its preconceiyed ideas of right- — " That pure high constancy which flies right on, As swerve less? as a bullet, to its mark ;" — 7 1. FOLLOWING THE DRUM. coming out eventually at tlie end of its career, like a glorions sunset at the close of a clouded day, supremely beautiful, eliciting unasked and universal admiration. The tomb of Columbus is situated on the Plaza des Armas, surrounded by trees. The monument is plain and unpretending, bearing a basso-relievo likeness of the great discoverer, with an inscription in Spanish — " To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world." Brief yet ample sentence ! " The world was cold, And he went down like a lone ship at sea. And now the fame that scorned him while he lived Waits on him like a menial." F L r. W I N G THE DRUM. 75 CHAPTEE Yll. NEW ORLEANS. "We left Havana with many regrets. In the few days passed there, enough of its beauties and pleasures had been tasted not to satiate. I left it with all its dreamy and indolent beauty deeply impressed upon my mind — " Flowers and rills live sunnily In gardens of my memory," but none in more vivid coloring than those of Cuba. As its palm-trees, that had brought with them so new and delightful a sensation, passed from my sight, I felt that with them a dream had vanished ; a bright scene had passed by in the panorama of existence. Two more days at sea, and we arrived where the dark and murky waters of the Mississippi empty themselves into tlie blue waves of the 76 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. ]\[exicaii Gulf. At this point the dividing line of the waters was distinctly visible. The scenery as the boat entered the principal channel of the Mississippi is peculiarly dreary and desolate. Tlie sea-board on either side is covered with miles of low swampy green salt plains, with lagoons, or natural canals, cut in every direction. Tlie river pours itself into the sea, through three passes. I suppose the reason why it is called the " Father of Waters" is, be- cause it has so many little mouths to feed ! We paused at the mouth of the river for a few moments to take in the pilot, whose hut, situated on one of these dreary plains, seemed a concentration of all that was desolate. Nothing can be more dreary, solitary, or devoid of all life, than these wastes of marshy, low, flat lands — no vegetation but salt meadow grass in sight. A strange place to choose out of the whole world for a home, and yet there were children clustering around the door-steps. To its master it probably did not bear the dreary aspect it did to the passing traveller. So differently in life do we form our estimates. FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 77 "We spent the day on deck watcliing tJie negroes on ei ther side of the river at work in the sngar-cane and cotton-fields — the overseer on horseback riding to and fro among them. The negro cabins seemed comfortable, neat, and admirably adapted to the climate and their wants. The tall chimneys of the sugar dis- tilleries rose np against the sky, with clouds of smoke issuing from them. Then the pleasure- grounds, gardens, and house of the planter, the piazzas supported by graceful pillars, and orna- mented with urns, filled and running over with creeping plants, with terraces of roses and flowers of varied hue, and children on the lawn with tlieir sable nurses, whose saffron-colored bandannas bloomed brighter than any blossom around. The morning air was soft and delicious, the waters danced and sparkled in the sunlight, while the shores were bright with verdure and human beings. The negroes singing at their work presented a picture of contented industry that would rpiitc liave amazed the Duchess of Sutherland, and other less illustrious but quite 78 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. as philanthropic ladies, who need not come aa far as they do to find food for their surplus sympathies. Late in the afternoon the Crescent City came in sight, and towards evening we found our- selves landed and established at the St. Louis Hotel, which, since the burning of the St. Charles, has been the famous hotel of the South- West. The planters along the river generally come here on a visit everv winter, brino^ina: tlieir wives and daughters to enjoy the gaieties of this great metropolis. Bridal parties are wonder- fully numerous. Tlie men at the St. Louis employ their time in drinking juleps and other beverages in the great rotunda of the hotel, which apartment is a gor- geous affair, most sumptuously fitted up, the centre terminating in a lofty dome, which lights it from above through stained glass windows. Here, over various descriptions of drinks, the principal business of the city is transacted, cotton sold, sugar bought, fortunes made and lost — enormous gambling transactions, looked upon with leniencv by the world, and called business. FOLLOWING THE DRUM, 79 AVTiile the men are enjoying the delights of this luxurious bar-room, the women employ themselves in dressing elaborately several times a day, and sitting in the gorgeous and extensive drawing-rooms, forming quite a study for a sj)ec- tator, from the exquisite Parisian quiet of some piquante Creole to the flashy, exaggerated finery of a "Western village belle. As in almost all public assemblies in this newly forming world, ignorance and bad taste predominate. From hotel life more can be seen of ;N"ew Orleans society than in other cities. A stranger can form no definite idea from it alone ; but judging from an evening's insight at a soiree musicale at the British Consul's, I should imagine it was very elegant in its tone. The Creole women dress beautifully ; their mode of coiffure is a study, rich glossy masses of hair rolled around their heads in classic and artistic style. The only drive of any importance in the neighborhood of ISiew Orleans is the Shell Eoad, which terminates at Lake Ponchartrain, where the steamers start for Mobile. This drive offers 80 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. but few attractions ; a canal runs on one side, and a ditch on the other. It is a great resort for ''fast" men (for which New Orleans is cele- brated), who hei-e run their horses at large. The canal serves the double purpose of drain- ing a neighboring marsh, and navigation. In fact, the whole surface of the land is, in a great measure, a marsh. At the cemetery, when thev dig down two feet for a grave, thej come to water. It is found necessary to use iron boxes, and bury the dead above ground, in brick graves like a Dutch oven. There is a dull unprogressive aspect about everything connected with Xew Orleans — there seems to be a stagnation in public spirit. The habit of lounging and drinking in bar-rooms pre- vails to a feai'ful extent. All the principal public buildings are the work of Government. There seems to be but little private enterprise, which must be from the effect of the enervating climate and the continually fluctuathig state of the market, which is at times in a state of wild chition. and, l>y an overflow of the river, may be reduced, in tw«.'i)ty-rMur hour.-', to a state of uttwi FOT, LOWTXG THE DRUM. 81 and hopeless depresBion, closely resembJiig the varying spirits of the Micawber family as described by Mr. Dickens. There is little reason to wonder that men, brought up under these peculiar influences, should become enervated, and more prone to louxjge at then* ease, than devoting a steadfast energy to patriotic improvements and the conquest of adverse circumstances. 82 F '-) L L o w r X G T n v: p r u m . CTlArTEK YIIL FIRST GLIMPSE OF TEXAS. After a delay of nearly two weeks m our de- parture for Texas, the moment at length arrived for going on l>oard the steamship " Globe," bound for Brazos Island, at the mouth of tlie Kio Grande, by way of Indianola and Gal- veston. I dreaded starting, and, as the last moment approached, clung to the bare comforts of a hotel in a strange city^ in preference to embark- ing on the treacherous sea that lay between us and our destination. Tlie ship was an old disabled shell that had been already condemned as unsafe, and in the trip follow^ing the one w^hich landed iis safely was stranded, and went to pieces on a sand- bar, all the crew and passengers perishing, the captain alone barely escaping with his life. FOT, r, o^vTxa tur drum. 83 He clang to a spar until lie lo.st his conscious- ness, wlien, as lie neared the shore, a propitious wave dashed him up high and dry on the beach, where he w^as found. He told me afterwards that death would have been preferable to the well iutentioned but agonizing process that was adopted to bring him to life — namely, that of emptying the salt water from his mouth by holding him suspended by the feet, and letting it pom' out gradually ! The commander, Captain Thompson, was a splendid specimen of the rough and fearless sailor, a genuine hero of the sea, bold, skilful, a thorough seaman in appearance as well as in mind and soul, with " a soft heart under a rough jacket." His nights at sea w^ere sleepless with watchfulness, and a bare bench on the hurri- cane deck his only couch. The shores of the Gulf of Mexieo, and its myriads of rocks, shoals, and sand-bars, were as familiar to him as the shifting nature of the latter could make them. In the past year he has found an untimely grave under these treacherous waters. During a 84 FOL LOWING THE DKUM. dreadful storm liis ship went down, not a soul living to tell where or how. Our sail down the Mississippi from New Orleans was spent, on deck, and was rather plea- sant, but towards night, when we got into the Gulf, the ship began to toss among the short sharp waves, and I was shown to the "ladies' cabin," where a shelf a foot wide was pointed out as my 'bed. Affairs began to assume an as- pect anything but pleasant. I was too sick to sit up, yet could not reconcile myself to the idea of the shelf, but increasing sickness left no alter- native. I closed my eyes to shut out the scene of dreadful squalor and confusion around, which sickened the very soul. Families of emigrants lay about on piles of trunks and boxes, all blessed with numerous young children, who cried, screamed, and were sea-sick incessantly. I never can forget that wretched night. I seemed to lie in a trance, wondering if I was myself or some one else, so unlike was the scene to any- thing my imagination had previously pictured. It seemed a little glimpse of Pandemonium ! The next morning I was removed, half dead, to FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 85 the captain's room on deck, in a state of wretch- edness more mental than physical, the steward- ess with really kind feelings remarking, as she assisted me, that I " was like a young bear with all my troubles yet to come !" It is a great era in our lives when we first begin to realize that " life is earnest, life is real !" The feelings of relief were overwhelm- ing on obtaining possession of the unpretending little apartment which was kindly proffered for the rest of the voyage, far away from all those dreadful fellow-passengers.* After a sail of three days, we stopped at Galve^on, Texas, one of the principal ports of the State ; here we put off a large portion of ^our passengers, who were emigrating into the interior. The main object of emigration to this State is of course for agricultural purposes. There are a very superior class of emigrants pouring into this portion of Texas, from the older States, tempted hither by the rich, luxu- rious, easily-cultivated soil of this well-named garden of the South- West. Too much cannot be said of the temptations 86 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. of settling here ; it is only in the south-west- ern portion, on the borders of the Kio Bravo del ITorte, or the Eio Grande, that the country seems stricken by a blight, and the vegetation becomes meagre and scanty beyond belief. We stopped for twenty-four hours at Galves- ton, and a cessation from sea-sickness, combined with a comparatively cool, pleasant day, made us hail with pleasure the idea of spending it on shore. The country presetited a flat sameness of aspect, and the town a growing appearance, in spite of the signs of new7iess that pervacj^d it ; frame houses and cottages, surrounded by gar- dens, evidently just laid out ; streets regularly ^ marked off into blocks ; some good stores, and quite an extensive hotel, with churches of seve- ral denominations, form the foundation of a city that promises a fine and rapid development. We arrived from the ship at the hotel just in time for dinner, and were quite surprised at the unwonted display of table-napkins and turtle Boup — two unlooked-for luxuries ! Experience F L Ti O W I X G THE DRUM. 87 60on proved that the former were an especial compliment to the fair sex, who ail over Texas are regarded with great honor and considera- tion. A gentleman, nninitiated in the customs of the country, asked for a napkin, and was informed by a likely yellow boy, " Only pro- vided for ladies, sir." I noticed several of these honored ladies at table, arrayed in the tasteful costume of black bareire over white, and enormous colored breast- pins ; their toilets reminded me very strongly of the baboon's sister in nursery tales, described as wearing " a dark black frock, and green glass breastpin." !N"one of them, however, excited my spontaneous admiration. After dinner was over I went to my room for a siesta, and while there, amused myself reading some of the printed rules by which the house was regulated. To assist those whose business it is to render comfortable the travelling public, I will copy one or two of them — viz. " Gents requested not to spit on the walls !" also to " Keep their boots off the bed clothes !" I hope I shall not shock any one's refinement beyond rJS F (J L L U.W ING THE DRUM. recovery by repeating these regulations, but as tliey were there in print, it must be that " beings do exist," to whom such warnings are deemed necessary ! I amused myself after dinner by conversing with a crowd of young, round-eyed, woolly- headed darkies, whose teeth shone like rows of ripe Indian corn on the cob, and who, in spite of being as wild and timid as prairie hens, w^ere induced by a small bribe to pour out in chorus some of the sweetest music I ever listened to. Their clear, fresh, mitutored voices, blended in perfect harmony as they recounted, in spirited verse, an exciting raccoon hunt in better time than the best drilled choruses I had ever heard. An exquisite ear for music seems to be the peculiar gift of the negro. They were the pro- perty of an old Virginia planter, who had sold his plantation in his native state, and with his sons and sons' sons, and their united families, slaves, and household property, were emigrating to Eastern Texas, to settle on the Brazos river, where he had bought land, and was going to found a new home for himself and his descend- F O L L O ^V I N G THE DRUM. 89 ants. The whole family came with us from New Orleans in the " Globe." One day I sat near the old father on deck, and struck by his venerable patriarchal appearance, and quaint- ness of manners, for my private edification entered into conversation with nim. He gave me a great deal *of valuable information in regard to the land to which he was bound, and finally asked " Misses, whar was you raised ?" I told him in ISTew York. " It's an aioful sinful place," he groaned out, " and was your man raised thar too V — leaving me very much in doubt whether he thought there could be any future hope of salvation for a sinful mortal " raised" in this modern Sodom ! 90 FOLLOWING THE P R U M CIIAPTEK IX. GALVESTON, TEXAS. Towards sunset of the afternoon tliat we passed in Galveston, a light wagon and a j^air of mus- tang ponies were provided for us, as this flou- rishing settlement even boasts of a livery stable, so far lias civilization advanced. They gave us the best " turn out " they had. Oificers of the army, being the representatives of government, receive the most uniform cour- tesy and respect all over the South and West. We first drove through the town. About the whole place there seems to hang a shade of melancholy, which may be imaginary, and in reality unconnected with it, but it is with in- voluntary thankfulness that I say " my lot has been cast in more pleasant places." There is but little animation in the streets, and we can almost imagine ourselves in a settlement of F L L W I N a T TT E D T? U l\r . 01 exiles, so few signs of life are to be seen. How- ever, we often judge of a place by the tone of our minds wliile there, and if these feelings can- not be laid aside, it is hardly a fair test. We leave the town behind, and crossing about a mile of chapparal or j^r^ii'ie land, reach the beach ; a beach that throws that of ISTewport, and others that we have seen, far, far into the shade. It is twice their width, and can be driven on for a day, without meeting with any impediment. The only marks of life we see are an occa- sional fisherman's temporary hut or shed, on that part in near vicinity to the town; and further on, swarms of wild ducks, cranes, and other kinds of wild fowl, as well as clusters of mammoth turtles, in which way we easily ac- counted for the soup at dinner. They lay bask- ing in the hot sand, apparently enjoying life ex- cessively in their own way. How meagre, how insignificant, do all the sea- side scenes painted on memory seem, in com- j)arison to this vast and apparently interminable extent of wave-beaten sand with its glorious breakers, and their sad eternal moanings. The 92 FOLLOWING THE DRUM mustang ponies seem inspired to do their best, and go like the wind, on, on, miles and miles, and yet before iis apparently the same vast extent of beach, the same breakers, the same flock of storks, wetting their long beaks at the water's brink, startled by onr im wonted intrusion on the solitudes, so long alone devoted to them, their predecessors, and the murmurs of the "sad sea wave " — on, on, nothing but grandeur, sub- limity, and God — not a sound of humanity. Sermons and essays are not half as beneficial in their effects as sermons and lessons born of a strange wild scene like this. The sky, the sand, the " wild sea foam," the salt chapparal stretch- ing in the opposite direction over the fiat lands, are all that the eye finds to rest upon, except the delicate shells and sea-weeds that lay strewn in profusion on the beach, toys that the wearied mermaids have cast aside after having wreathed them for pastime in their dripping locks. At last the sun goes down beyond tlie sea, and then in its full beauty rises the moon. Round, full, and beautiful, it rises with a peculiar beauty on the scene we have just described, FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 93 casting no shadows, for there are no rocks of uneven ground to foster them. It lights the sand, tind tinges the waves with silver, as our horses turn their heads homewards. We were very loath to go, and confess to having " on this occasion only" felt very sentimental under the influence of so much beauty, but e dolce far niente is most potently realized in moonlight on a southern sea, and makes a little weakness of this kind the more excusable ! AYe will even confess to having been guilty, in the recesses of our own heart, of quoting some poetry in re- ference to " Those melancholy tears, Which come when all most bright appears, And hold their strange and secret power Even on pleasure's golden hour." "The sea, scarce nmrmuring, slept in peace, Though full of glory bright as noon, Which through the clouds — a sUvery fleece — Gushed down from the resplendent moon. Melted in blue the distant flood. Like jewels gleamed the sparkling ?>and- Oh, what in such a silent night 94 F O L L O "W T X Q T IT R D R U M . Will tiu-ougli i\\~' liiur.nii l.osoni throng, Was never felt by day's broad light, "Was never told in earthly song. A breath, mysterious, seems to creep From Heaven upon the tranquil au* A vision o'er the soul to sweep, 'Tis half a smile and half a tear." It seemed a place to linger in for ever, but had this wish heen gratified, we fear a S]3eedy reac- tion wouid have taken place from this quite high-flown state of enthusiasm, and in time we should have longed for a human habitation, and to see the wild ducks in a pate, as well as many other small items of civilized life. That evening we left Galveston, with a glimpse of its melan- choly beauties impressed on the pages of memo- ry, like the trace of a sad and misty dream. At earliest dawn next morning we set sail, and at noon landed at Indianola, where we put off the remainder of our passengers. But few ever go further south in Texas, unless they go on especial business, or by orders of government. Those unconnected with the latter, or with mer cantile houses, seldom find their way there, Ti' O L L O W T X G THE IJ R L' M , 95 The passciigor>s for liRliaiioia, and tlieir iinnie- roiis articles of property, were conveyed to the shor^, some distance, in small boats, as, from the peculiar formation of the harbor, it is peri- Ions for ships to enter in. Two more days at sea bronght onr old, leaky vessel in sight of the island of " Brazos St. Jago " (the arm of St. James), and fonnd ns most perilonsly lodged on a dangerous sand-bar in sight of land, where the vestiges of wrecks around seemed to warn us of wdiat might be our fate, and of the death and destruction that looked us in the face. For six houi's we lay in the breakers, with the calm blue, sunlit heavens, smiling down upon us, singular accompaniments for a wreck at sea, and yet w^e knew well that half the devasta- tions around us had taken place under the same cii'ciimstances, and not in the midnight storm or under a clouded sky. The weaves, as if from a whirlpool beneath, dashed upon the ship, striking us fearfully each time against the bar, producing a terrible shock, that seemed like warning from heaven of coming fate. Tlie cap- tain and crew labored most manfully at their 96 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. duties, but every other voice was hiislied with eager anxiety. The scene around inspired any- thing but hope of reaching land in safety, and assistance of small boats from the shore experi- ence had often proved impossible. Tlie sea around the vessel moaned " like a monster pained." We sat all these hours on the deck, mechanically watching the sea gulls dipping their wings in the water, and the porpoise as it gave a leap throngh the air to plunge again, in an instant, into the wave. When death comes face to face w^ith us unexpectedly, no matter %vhat our horror of it may be, it is strange how indifferently w^e can look it in the face. Dur- ing these frightful hours we traced with a glass countless wrecks that lay around. From the bar on which we lay to the shore the w'ater was shallow, and only navigable for small boats. The harbor is filled with bars, wdiich are con- tinually shifting their position. This peculiarity is what renders it so perilous, and causes so many lives to be sacrificed in sight of land. Every imaginable vestige of wreck lay around, from the giant mast of some enorjuoii-s ship to FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 97 that uf the smallest trading schooner. All this gave to the barren, sandy shores, an air of gloom and desolation that words cannot de- scribe. Our few fellow-passengers awaited with us in earnest watching to see what would come next. My Irish Abigail alone broke silence, by ejaculations to the Yirgin, in a brogue which was a painful jar to every one's feelings, and had I died there it would have been as a sin- cere and disgusted Know ]^othing ! Towards afternoon, when the excitement of hope had been subdued by the almost certainty of our worst fears being realized — with one bound and a loud glad shout of exultation, we were pushed across the bar, and at last safely cast anchor inside the harbor. In her next voyage, the Globe went to pieces on this same sand-bar, not a soul on board, except the cap- tain, escaping. It now forms another vestige of a wreck to add new dreariness to this gloomy scene. The small boats were launched, and we were soon landed on the government docks of Brazos Island, where are a number of large wooden buildings, containing ammunition and 6 98 F o r. I. o w I N Ct the drum. yanonsgovorninent stores oi* provisions, clothing, &c., to be forwarded to answer demands from the various military stations on the river above. The quartermaster and his family reside here, and we stayed at his house. That afternoon we spent with him in a row-boat fishing for our snpper ; we caught a number of blue-fish, and of course cat-fish^ as they are tlie especial luck of all amateur fishermen ! We caught nothing difterent from what we have at the north. Towards night as we went homewards over the moonlit waters, the cool breeze from the sea amply rewarded us for our unwonted exertions. That evening we sat on the piazza and saw the lights glimmering from Point Isabel, which lay directly opposite us on tlie Texas shore. It will be remembered as the scene of some of General Taylor's most important operations. It contains a few houses around Fort Polk, a field- work thrown up by Genei-al Taylor's troops, at the commencement of the war. Between Point * Isabel and Brownsville is an overland route of about twelve miles. Shell Island and Palm Island, both occupied by a few inhabitants, lay F O L L O W I X G THE 1) R T M 99 before us in the sea ; Brazos Island looks like a bleak, barren sand-bank on a pretty extensive scale. In the year 1815, before Texas became a State of the Union, the Mexican government passed a law, that no one should attempt to settle here, as on several occasions, when such attempts had been made, a terrific storm had suddenly sprung up, and, dasliing on the shore, had swept away every vestige of its inhabitants and their property, without leaving a trace behind of human habitation. It is now many years since such a storm has taken place, so that they have almost entirely passed from the memory of the present inhabitants of these regions. Government has run quite a risk in braving a repetition of one of these terrible and devas- tating storms. It may lead to a too tardy regret. The present limited population are principally the employes of government at the store- houses, and fishermen who supply the Browns- ville market with bass, red and blue-fish, and an inferior kind of oyster, which is nevertheless regarded as a very great delicacy in the absence of others. I was very much amused at a new LOO FOLLOWING THE DRUM. species of hotel that I saw there ; it was formed of the wrecked hull of an enormous ship that had been cast ashore in a storm, and was firmly wedged in the sand. It had been repaired and rendered weather-proof by the mud and mortar generally made use of for building purposes in these primitive regions. A bar-room and eat- ing-room formed the principal apartments, with several sleeping-rooms of limited area adjoin- ing, which were the accommodations of the boarders. It was kept by an old woman and her pretty little granddaughter about twelve years old, who was receiving an education to fit her for the responsible situation of bar-maid to this " Hotel (vraiment) Texan." We passed one afternoon and night on Brazos Island, and the next day started for Fort Brown, adjoining the town of Brownsville, Texas. FOLLOWING THE D 11 V M . 101 CHAPTEE X. BRAZOS ST. JAGO. At ten o'clock the next morning the govern- ment carriage or ambulance was at the door, and, bidding farewell to our host, we again resumed our journey. The day was warm, but a cool breeze came from the sea, and the sun kindly shut out its hottest rays from us by a screen of clouds. The first part of the drive lay along the seaboard of Brazos Island ; no rocks, nor the smallest traces of vegetation could be seen in the hot sand ; there was nothing to vary the monotony of the scene but vestiges of wrecks of all descriptions, remains of ships and schoon- ers, that when gaily launched, brightly painted, and colors streaming, were looked upon with pride by their commander and crew, who little thought they would, ere long, be utterly dis abled, at the mercy of tempestuouf winds, 102 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. cast on tlie bleak shores of a barren island, or stranded on the treaclierons sand-bar. Frequently were we compelled to turn aside from our path ^o avoid some mammoth black- ened mast that lay imbedded in the sand, im- peding our way. Tlie horses dragged for seve- ral miles, slowly and wearily, through the heavy sands, till we came to the creek " Boca Chica" (little mouth), which separates Brazos Island from the main land. Here the horses were taken from the ambulance, which was then towed across the creek by the flat-boat, that served for ^ ferry ; it then returned for the horses, and finally for the passengers, making three tedious trips, while I sat on a dressing-case, in the sand, patiently watching the operation. Th^ flat-boat could not come quite up to the dry land, so there were about twenty yards of shallow water to be passed before we could get to it. To my amazement I soon found myself being borne through the air like a baby in the arms of a great stalwart Texan (he being knee- deep in the water), until safely lodged in the boat, on a large Mexican poncho that their gal- F O L L () \V I N G T ir K PR U M . 103 laiitiy liad provided. The creek was vver a quarter of a mile wide, and was a good deal swollen at this season by recent rains. When we arrived at the other side we were obliged to wait there a while to rest the horses. We went into a kind of rancho, or hut, to sit down. It was the home of the boatman and his wife, who resided here, and the only house fur miles around ; it appeared very loneh^, even to a transient guest, being on the banks of the creek, with nothing but sand and water in sight. The interior was quite spacious, and was divided into apartments by rough canvass or sailcloth curtains. All the surroundings, however, to an eye unaccustomed to " roughing it," bore an aspect of misery and abject suffering. When on our way home we again stopped liere, this wayside hut, with a roof over it, appeared (comparatively speaking) really a comfortable abode, we had seen so many worse ones. In a convei"sation with the woman who lived here, she told her history (whicli was but slightly more eventful than that of Canning s Kuife- Grinder) ! 101 FOLLOWING THE DKUM. Tlie ''halcyon days" of lier youth had been passed principally on the canal. Since that she had lived in all parts of the Western States, and finally had . reached this barren spot, on the confines of civilization. She bore the traces of some former beauty; her eyes were very sad, and so was her smile. I asked her if she Avas not lonely ? she said that peace was enough to satisfy her, and she had that where she was. Her chief occupation was raising chickens for the Brownsville market. She showed me a brood of fifty, with one old hen, all crowded in a bandbox, and kept on a shelf, to keep them from running in the creek, she said. By the aid of plenty of meal and a scanty supply of light and air, she assured me she raised the fattest chickens in market ! but I should not have cared to eat any of these extra plethoric or dropsical poultry ! By the time the investigation of this natural phenomenon was finished, our horses were rest- ed and at the door awaiting us. We bid our hostess farewell, and proceeded on our way. From this point we struck a north-westerly 'I FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 105 direction towards Brownsville, crossing a beau- tiful cliappara], which, owing to an accidental irrigation from the overflow of the river above, formed a spot of verdure but seldom seen in this region of country. It was thick with flow- ering shrubs and wild flowers. Each scraggy, ebony tree lodged in its branches myriads of brilliant tropical birds, whose sweet-toned melodies filled the soft air that floated around us, with music. Another hour's drive took us to the borders of the Kio Grande or Kio Bravo del l^orte, a still, monotonous stream, that flowed sluggishly along, its muddy waters giv- ing, however, a refreshing sensation to the tra- veller on its almost invariably parched and arid banks. The first impressions of this river reminded me of the descriptions I had read and imagined of Egypt and the Nile. It only wanted a few swarthy, turbaned men, and a sphynx or two, to complete the illusion. As we left the banks of the river (which, in its winding course, struck far away from our more direct road to Brownsville), we came on 106 F O L L O AV I N G THE DRUM. to the ground which was the scene of the battle of Palo Alto, situated on a tract which nature seemed designedly to have thrown up for the purposes of a drill ground. This formation is not, hc)wevcr, as consj^icuous in this region of country as it might be in another place ; for the whole surface of the land is laid out in low, sand}^ ridges, the vegetation stinted, and the soil scanty. The cactus and other plants indige- nous and peculiar to a sandy soil, grow in luxu- riant beauty. Occasionally relics of the battle are picked up, but there remain few traces to tell of '' war's alarms." The oriole boldly lights on the low flowering bushes, knowing no fear in these rai-ely interrupted solitudes, where the sounds of the wiklerness alone break the still- ness of the air. The contrast of this peaceful scene with the previously conceived idea of this famous battle-field was very striking. It had been associated with the sound of booming guns, gallant charges, and groans of wounded and dying men. Many tliat I had known, treading with mar- tial step the romantic plain of West Point, liad FOLLOWING THE DKUAI. 107 here found a soldiers grave, among the unl'or- gotten dead. The high beating pulse and ear- nest aspirations of early manhood stilled for ever, in an instant, by the shot of some cowardly Mexican, who probably shuddered with fear as he pulled his trigger — for they are a nation of poltroons, and more afraid of their own fire- arms than any one would readily believe. How many have thus "Poured their life-blood freely out^ro lono 'publico^''^ with the simple satisfaction of dying in the dis- charge of duty ; while, too, many a neglected mound, on distant spots like this, is all that remains of those — " The young and strong, who cherished Noble longings for the strife, By the road-side fell and perished." It seems almost a disgrace to think of the many forgotten graves of brave and noble men that lie scattered everywhere. The glory conferred by them on their country seems to demand Bonie better return. The blood-stained hills 108 :rOLLOWING THE DRUM. and valleys of our land are the ruby jewels in the crown of her greatness. And if we fail to mark those spots where heroes fall with tablets that tell of their gallant deeds, it is not only wronging them, but wronging generations yet unborn, by allowing them to forget how pre- cious the purchase-money that bought their freedom. Our horses paused here to allow us to take luncheon, which, when it came to be unpacked, consisted of a cold beefsteak and bread, wrapped in a newspaper ; anything but a tempting re- past, and, although famishing with hunger, I politely but firmly declined participating in it. About three miles before we came to Fort &own we passed a deep ravine, the scene of the battle of Kesaca de la Palma (the field of palms), which could not have taken its name from any of these trees, as there was not even one specimen to be seen. It was here that Ge- neral Taylor achieved his second victory over the Mexicans, under General x\rista, in the late war. The sensations here were a repetition of the above, so it is needless to recapitulate, FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 109 "When we are hungry we grow less enthusiastic, ■ and even patriotism cools down to a mere mat- ter of fact sentiment. We saw several ranches in the distance, but none near enough to form a very definite idea of them or their belongings. 110 FOLLOWING THE DRUM, CHAPTEE XI. FORT BROWN. Soon we drove in sight of Fort Brown, ana np tlie principal street of Brownsville to the gates of the garrison. The aspect of this cnrious, lialf-breed town, was very noveL It is what tliey call in Texas " qnite a settlement." A mixed population of Americans and Mexicans formed a contrast at once striking and amnsing. On the one hand the red brick stores, and white frame shops and buildings of every de- scription, bore the marks of inevitable progress, or go-aheadativeness, otherwise called " mani- fest destiny ;" while the rudely constructed huts, or hackals, composed of rustic straw work, or mud bricks called adobes, in which there is generally but one apartment, where frequently are fomid five generations living together, ek- ing out an indolent existence on a mild diet of FOLLOWING THE D R U ^t . Ill ground corn, egg^, and milk, exhibited nnmis- takable evidence of a vanishing people, who in a few years will know no nationality. These Mexicans lead a truly j)riniitive life, reminding us of "shepherd days'" in young world's history. In one of the huts, built on four posts, with thatched straw walls, I witnessed on one occasion, with mingled horror and amusement, quite a new phase in harler-ism ! It could not be called hair-dressing, yet might be regarded as a peculiar species of shampo(»ii]g. An old crone seated on a wooden bench, was cleansing the locks of a small child, Avhile a young girl performed the same kindly offices for the old woman — the whole party talking and laughing merrily. Further description, or even a shade more minuteness in detail, would be impossible. Suf- ficient to say, the perforuuiuce had moi*e vitality connected with it than is usually disj^layed by Mexicans. Yermin are the scourge of this country, and cleanliness certainh not one of its virtues. This 112 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. portion of the world may be set dowm as the birthplace of the flea ; those found in other parts are merely occasional wanderers from this, their native land ! Here they roam at large, the torment, par excellence, of the human race, ixi consequence of which carpets are eschewed, as they are apt to furnish a resort for scores of fleas, as well as other vermin of tlie country. Cane furniture, matting, and the indispensable mosquito bar, are the only articles in general use ; anything more elegant seldom reaches here, and is not required. We found at Brownsville quite a respectable, well educated class of Americans, who gave an entertainment while we were there, in honor of certain strangers in town. The Mayor called to invite the oflicers of the garrison of Fort Brown, and their families, to the soiree to be given at " the Gem," the principal cafe of the place. Of course we accepted the in\ itation, went at nine o'clock, and found the affair had commenced already. A fine band of stringed instruments, and a certain air of deference and respect in the man- ners of the men, were something I liad not ex- FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 113 pected to find. Tlie waltzing was very grace- ful. Several Spanish ladies from the old Mexi- can city of Matamoras were present, who seemed to swdm in the graceful, languid motion of the deux temps, as if they had never heard of the hopping of the polka and redowa, which rather frantic style of dancing certainly seems better adapted to the Jardin Mabille, or some grisettes' ball, than to the dame comme il faut. Wall-flowers are an unknown shrub in this part of the country ; the men have too nmch gallantry to allow them to flourish, even if acci- dentally transplanted here from colder climes. I had once doubted the existence of those mythical beings called ''nature's noblemen," but my stay in Texas relieved my mind from all uncertainty on the subject, for I found no lack of polish and courtesy, although the coun- tiy is so newly settled. The site now occupied by the government grounds of Fort Brown belonged formerly to the estate of a Spanish nobleman, and had been in his family for years. Consequently some fine trees are srrowangin the neighborhood, as it was once an 114 F O L L U AV 1 N a THE D K U M . exquibite garden, tilled witli jjlaiits and irrigated from the Eio Grande, by means of stone aque- duct!^, jiow falling into decay. Traces of a beau- tiful artificial lake, with an island in its centre, still remain, and also a ruined summer-house, with luxuriant vines creeping wherever they can lind a support to cling to, as the pillars that they once clambered over have probably long ere ^this lighted a tire, to cook some rancliero's meal, or floated do\vn the sullen waters v\^ Ihe Rio Grande. In 1848 Brownsville contained but two houses, or rather shanties ; two years after, it had four thousand inhabitants, was laid out into sti'eets, with a number of brick build- ings, and a tine market-house, wdth a large pub- lic hall above it. It is duly incorporated, and now has a mayor and other municipal officers, and a weekly newspaper. Its population has not very materially increas- ed bince 1850, owing to the unsettled state of the frontier, from the Indians and tilibuster warfare. A considerable trade is carried on wdth the inte- rior of Mexico, and in time of disturbance bnmggling is practised to a. great extent. FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 115 The rush of furtiiue-huuters to OaliforiLic^ gave so wide a veut to the enterprising, that it prevented the increase of the population of Brownsville that would otherwise have taken place. Thirty miles east of the town is a lake, from which large quantities of salt are annually ob- tained. In 1852 when we were there, there was no church, and but one preacher. This individual was a wandering Presbyterian, who after having collected an ample subscription from the people, for the purpose of building a church, invested it in a parsonage, built on a lot of his own ground ! and after safely lodging in it his wife and a dozen or more of his pious offspring, began mak- ing preparations for another collection, to build the church. This time, however, the people of Brownsville, seeing that he acted so entirely on the principle of " charity beginning at home," were more wary, and the church remains un- built to this day. I have since heard that the Episcopal church has sent a minister there. "VVe were detained several weeks in Browns- 116 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. ville on account of tlie non-arrival of " the Cor- vette " (the government steamer), and dr ing that time received every kindness and hospitality. The further you remove from civilization, the more warm-hearted the persons you meet seem, and hospitality, like contentment, gives charms, even to "a dinner of herbs." This is easily accounted for. In a large community, there are 80 many calls on our sympathy and good will, that, naturally, they cannot be responded to as heartily as in a place out of the world, where such demands are more rare. "We made a good many excursions about the country. One clay we crossed the river, and spent a day at Matamoras. This place is- asso- ciated with the siege of Fort Brown, during the Mexican war. Its old stone dwellings, and ca- thedral, whose cracked chimes float daily on the evening and morning air, with its heavy masonry and antiquated air, seem to bear us back to past centuries M-hen the Spaniards brought from gor- geous Spain some of the attributes of regal gran- deur, and planted them in the wilderness of a for- eign land. Members of some of the noblest fami- FOLLOWIXG TllK DRUM. 117 lies of Spain founded liouses here, whose des- cendants greatly pride themselves on their long line of ancestors, and the antiquity of their family reminiscences. The present race of Spanish-Americans have lost almost all the fire of their native land, and form a nation which by itself will probably never attain a very proud eminence in the world's history. Annexation to our union is all that can ele- vate them, although the advantage would be greatly on their side, as it would not add either to the glory or material advantage of Uncle Sam. Petty revolutions furnish them with an appa- rently unwearying excitement, and the conse- quence is, an utter Lack of all progress, and a general aspect of desolation and decayed splen- dor. The men are generally a diminutive race, and to a refined mind there is something almost repulsive in their dark, swarthy, unintellectual beauty. The upper class of women, though not strictly speaking beautiful, have a certain inde- scribable charm ; a dreamy, soft, subdued, al- most languid manner, covering an enthusiasm almost startling when roused. This anomalous 118 F O L L ^Y I N G THE DRUM. coinbiiuitiou produces an effect at once pleasing and the contrary. We feel liow necessary a high cultivation of the mind is to a union so fascinating and so defective. For beyond ac- companying herself on the mandolin, as she sings the national ditties of Spain, and embroidering the exquisite needle-work of Mexico, she is ut- terly devoid of either moral or literary culture. While at Matamoras, we saw the funeral pro- cession of the resident Spanish Consul, to which the American officers had received a formal and courteous invitation ; many of them were present. He was of the Koman faith, and his funeral services were attended with all the pomp and forms of that church. The carriage that we were in drew up to the side of the road, as the procession passed in solemn silence, the only sounds the low chanting of the priests and the tramp of the feet of the funeral train. The priests came first, in full regalia, bearing the host, followed by boys in white and crimson attire, holding lighted torches, and burning incense ; then came the coffin, borne on tho shoulders of six men, and covered with a heavy FOLLOWING THE DRUM, 119 black velvet pall, with deep gold fringe. On tlie top lay the chapeau, sword, and sash of its occupant, with other insignia of his office (which latter among these people are neither few nor rare). Tlie mourners followed in close vicinity to the coffin, and then the citizens, each bearing a long waxen taper, to b# lighted at the grave during the service. The ftit shaven padres seemed to be enjoying vastly the impression they were producing on their ignorant but ad- miring audience, and (begging the pardon of the holy Eoman Catholic Church) a more dissolute, carnal, gambhng, jolly set of wine-bibbers do not exist in any portion of the world than the Mexican priests of the present day. In every village of importance they are found, ruling the io-norant T>easantrv with the strong sway of superstition and dread. These men are at times well educated, and very agreeable, ji.niusing companions, in spite of their wicked- ness. They differ widely from the original race of priests, who were among the foremost in brino'ing religion and civilization into the coun- try. 120 F O L L O W I N G T B£ DRUM. ]n lact, the earliest records we have of tho Iiistoiy of Mexico and Texas are derived from those remarkable men, lialf priest^ half soldier, who after aiding in the subjugation of tlie Aztecs, spread themselves almost single-handed over a vast extent of country^ uninhabited save by numerous tribes of savages, whose very ex- istence was unknown to each other. Led on by visions as brilliant as those of Cortez, fired equally by religious zeal and ambition, these modern crusadei-s braving danger with more than military ardor, and meeting death with the martyr's enthusiasm, with their numbers dimi- nished and still decreasing, pressed on until they ■penetrated into the heart of the continent, where for centuries the wild idolator had offered sacri- fice on the altar of an unknown God. Descend- ing the water courses to the Gulf of Mexico, they sought with the cross in one hand, and the sword in the other, to colonize the nomadic tribes that roamed at large over the wide prai- ries of Texas. The history of their proceedings is full of interest, although the records are few 'and limited in detail. Time and again their followtxtt the DFwUivr, 121 efforts were iViistratecl, and the daring adven- turers paid to their enterprise the forfeit of their lives. Occasionally a straggling survivor found his way back to Mexico, after passing through every description of danger, travelling solitary and on foot over hundreds of miles of prairie. Their mournful tidings, however, served but to in- crease the ardor for conquest. Success seemed at length to crown these continued efforts, and a number of flourishing missions were eventually established in the valley of the upper Kio Grande, and formed the nucleus of wliat ai'e now considerable towns. These missions were generally under the supervision of the priests, one of whom attended to the religious ceremo- nies, while the other collected the Indians, and instructed them in agriculture, the U5>e of imple- ments, &c. In these tasks they were assisted by parties of already civilized Indians, who had accompa- nied them from Mexico. At first the converts were supported by the mission, which in return received their labor. As soon as they were 122 FOLLO"^TXG THE DRUM. deemed competent to provide for themselves, a portion of ground was allotted to them, and in this way a village sprang np around each mis- sion. For several years these little commu- nities remained undisturbed, each year adding to their number, and increasing their resources. Yet, while reposing in fancied security, an un- seen storm was gathering around them. The wily savages of the phiins, true to the iustinct of their untamable and rapacious natures, only waited for a fitting opportunity to sweep down upon the settlements and annihilate them. I^ot content with plundering them of everything they could carry away, they ruthlessly mur- dered all who could be found, and the missions were for a time abandoned. We cannot fail to regret that so lit le of the heroic and religious zeal of these first priests remains to inspire their followers. Just outside of the U^wn of Brownsville are the grounds of the garrison of Fort Brawn, the spot from w^hence General Taylor bom^barded Matamoras. Its well kept fences, and regularly placed barracks and buildings, with the vine- FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 123 covered cottages tliat form the officers' quar- ters, add in no small degree to tlie beauty and importance of Brownsville ; while the daily guard-mountings, parades, and drills, and the accompanying military music, add greatly to the feelings of safety and importance of its citi- zens. While at Fort Brown I saw a soldier from the ranks drummed out of the service for thef\. It was a very novel and amusing sight. He had his head shaved, and his military coat, hat, and accoutrements taken from him — his blue pantaloons, with the red stripe of the artillery, he alone retained to show his former calling. At evening parade he was called in front of the ranks, and publicly dismissed, the officer of the day reading his crime and its penalty, aloud, in full. He was then obliged to walk three times around the parade-ground, with the corporal and sergeant of the guard following him closely with bayonets pointed downward, the fifer and two drummers following, playing " right mer- rily" the tune of '' Poor Old Soldier, I hope the devil won't catch you," a gay, mocking air. J24: V () L L O \V ISO THE DRUM. reserved especially for occasions of this kind. He put on a regular Jack Sheppard or Dick Tiirpin swagger, and in passing the command- ing officer's quarters, shouted out to a gronp there assembled for a subscription for a wig. A prick from the two bayonets soon put him in mind of his flagrant breach of respect, but it did not seem to cure him, as on his last tour he called to the orderly of the day, who stood with military bearing and a wooden face, '' Good- bye, Tom ! God bless you, my son !" The or- derly's face became still more wooden and un- responsive at this remark, as in duty bound, and a severe prick from the guard produced another strong reminder of duty. At the gate of the garrison he was ejected, and went off probably to buy himself a wig ! — while the guard marched rapidly back to the guard-house, followed by the fifer and the drummers playing the tune of " The Dashing White Sergeant," a sound inspiriting enough to give the soldier fresh strength on the weariest march, or call the most lagging recruit to his post. FOLLOWING THE D K U .M . 125 CHAPTER XII. THE RIO BRAVO DEL NORTE. "The Cora^tte" finally arrived, and after stopping a few days at BroAvnsville, prepared to start again on its return trip, np the Rio Grande. We were the only passengers on board. The accommodations were very fine, as there were only two state rooms, and they four times the usual size, and quite sumptuously furnished. We spent four days in our sail up the river, which runs in a singularly serpentiuv. course ; at times, the windings form almost a complete circle. Sand-bars were very numerous, and (to use a technical local phrase) we ^' stuch^'^ a num- ber of times on the way, going through the pro- cess of several houi*s' tugging and pushing eacli time before we were able to continue our vova2:e, which, had it not been for its noveltv, mig^lit have proved tedious. 126 F () L \j < > \V I X C; T II S D K U M. About lialf way up tlie river, we came to a settlement, on the American &ide, called Edin- burgli. A thieving Scotchman had built a house here, and patriotically called it after his native place, which he had probably left in a hurry ! A few Mexicans have clustered around him, and it is now a stopj^ing-place for the occasional flat-boats that go up and down the river, witii lumber, provisions, &c. The only notice we took of its existence as a city was by flinging a package of papers ashore from the mail bag as we passed it. ]N"ot far above this, we were suddenly alarmed by the dreadful cry of " the Canianches ! the Ca- manches !" and a momentary pang of terror was felt by the stoutest heart on board. Tlieir rifles were aimed at our "great canoe w^ith pinions," and several harmless shots pene- trated difi"erent objects on deck. We returned the fire, and most fortunately heard no more from them. Tliey were probably bound on other eri'ands of destruction and death. The story of the dreadful crimes which they F O L L U W I N ( ; THE 1) R L' M . l^l , practise on the inliabitauts of tliis region will lurin a fearful page in liistory. There could not be a blacker record of infamy and rapaciousness. Tlie Camanche Indian possesses no vestige of the noble traits attributed to the red men of the north west. At the best, he enjoys the mere intelligence, or rather instincts, of the brute ; these instincts are all that guide him. He is bloody, brutal, licentious, and an innate thief. Civilization will probably never reach him, as his feelings towards the white men are those of implacable hatred. Their blood he demands, and takes every occasion to obtain it. With the terrible sound of his name, the Mexican mother strikes terror to the ?nul of her wayward child. In fact, he may be looked upon as " the black man in the coal-hole" of more civilized lands. Actual extermination seems to suggest itself as the only remedy against this scourge. IN'othing less will render many portions of the State of Texas a safe abode for white settlers. The Camanche's food is principally raw meat of the animals killed in the hunt, which diet probably renders more formidable his ferocious ^28 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. nature. Tlie tribe resides further north than the Rio Grande, but roving parties are continu- all}^ coming down for depredation and murder. They are wonderful horsemen, more in their natural elemeiiL uii a horse's back than any- where else. An Indian child is put on liorse- back before it can walk, with a cord around the horse's neck, and taught to guide it with its feeble strength, more adroitly than can be readily imaerined. The women ride astride, and are quite as fearless riders as the men. Their favor- ite sport is to lasso wild horses, which they do with great expertness, A band of mounted Camanches in f.iU chase after a drove of wild horses, with their manes flying in the wind, is said to be an intensely exciting sight. The Indian lassos his horse, jumps on tlie wild, res- tive creature's back, and remains there till he is in a measure broken in. They say, among the Indians, that in break iiig a liorse's spirit they break his heart, and he does not live long; conse(j[uently, they always* endeavor to catch colts, as " breaking in " has always been f«tun be. more successful during FOLLOWING THE P R U M . 12^ tlie tender period of youth tliaii in matnrer years, in liuman beings as well as wild horses ! Horse-stealing from the Mexicans is an im- portant branch of their business. lie who steals the greatest number of horses is regarded as the greatest man in the tribe. After all, life is made up of conventionalities, and what is honorable with one nation is dishonor with anothei*. If for korses we read dollars, I fear we should have a peculiar fact in regard to more enlightened communities! Government has, at different times, organized parties, and sent tiiem up to the principal camping grounds of the tribe. But the great sachem and chief men have disclaimed all con- nexion with these marauding parties, placing them in the light of filibuster, beyond their control. An astute idea of theirs, for if we can- not control organized depredations on our neighbors, how can we blame the Indians for wishing to extend their " area of freedom ?" My ideas of these savages were acquired from the Texans and Mexicans, of course not from actual contact ; yet 1 cannot refrain from some 8 130 F O L L O W I X G THE D R U M feelings of sympathy for a people, who are clriv^en from their rightful possessions, and can )ee, in their ignorance, manj excuses for their tiger-like ferocity and bitter hatred of those who they feel have wronged them so sorely. The night before we arrived at the j^oint of our final destination, the steamer pushed towards the shore, and we tied up for the night at a Mexican ranche, as at this point in the river sailing by night was considered dangerous. We ran ashore late in the afternoon, and landed to inspect the immediate vicinity of the coun- try. Taking a road that led from the river's bank in a winding direction through the cliap- paral — a beaten footpath led us on — each side overrun with briers, among them myriads of beautiful wild flowers, " uncultured blossoms of the wilderness," glowing in delicate and varied hues, as they sprung from the sterile and sandy soil, unlooked for traces of a beauty whose spirit seems to linger everywhere — we soon emerged from the tangled brush-wood of the chapparal, and came to a cleared spot of some acres in extent, Tlie picture of rural pursuits FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 131 that here presented itself, was a study for srn artist. Half-a-dozen miid-huts neatly thatched with straw and open sheds attached for culinary pur- poses, where the kettle hung suspended over a w^ood fire, in real gipsy fashion, while an old weather-beaten crone bent over, stu'ring the pot-au-feu of frijoles that were to make the evening meal. The men who had returned from the chase or from the fields lay about on the ground, or leaned lazily over the fence, talking to the women who were milking a flock of goats, and some cows that the children had just driven in from their scanty pasturage in the chapparal. One Mexican girl, as she milked her goats, talked and smiled most coquettishly, the w^hile showing her beautiful eyes and teeth to great advantage to a " greaser," who evidently appre- ciated her charms ! His slouched sombrero and enormous black moustache, witli traces in his dress of the picturesque garb of Spain, produced an exceedingly artistic eftect. Tlie peasant woi7ien wear a white chemisette 1^2 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. decollel^e, with short sleeves, and a dark brlglit- colored petticoat ; tliey are rather slovenly, and consequently far from attractive, although at a little distance thej look well. A large garden and a good-sized patch of Indian corn, interspersed with melon vines, to- gether with cattle and an enormous flock of barn-yard fowls, completed the scene. It took me back in my mind to past centuries that Schiller sings of — " The age when the ]^arth was at play In the childhood and bloom of creation, When no grief and no guile the calm shepherd-race knew j And their life was the absence of care," when Chloe and her shepherd swain were the chosen theme of the poet's pen. The children roamed " sans culottes" as usual in this climate, and were very pretty, although it was painfully evident that the institution of Saturday night ablutions, common in all well organized nurseries, was unheard of among these poor little Mexican babies ! The Mexican peasant of the Rio Grande is a F O L T. O W T X G THE BRUM. 1 33 character peculiar to that region of country, possessing within himself all the elements of a social existence. He is his own shoemaker and tailor ; the leather of his garments and of his sandals is made from the skins of the animals he lias himself killed. He makes his own carts, hewing the wheels out of the solid wood. He makes the plough he useS;, which is a sharp-pointed log, with a pole at one end by which it is guided, and one at the other by which it is drawn. To it a pair of oxen are strapped by the horns ; sometimes a mule and a cow are yoked together to drag it ! His harrow is made of the branch of a tree. The corn is put into the ground and then left to Providence to either ripen or dry up, of which there is an even chance. After planting he starts out on the prairie to lasso wild horses and cattle, and if he escapes the Camanche, he generally l^rings home a supply of stock for the ensuing year. He builds his house of straw, reeds, stone and adobes, without either nails or hammer; lingers out his inoffensive peaceful life almost invariably 134 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. to a good old age ; and goes to his grave witliont knowing or caring anything abont the world, except that portion of it which is bounded by the horizon of his own rancho. F O T. L W I N G T H S DRUM 1 3 j CHAPTEK XIII. RINGGOLD BARRACKS. We readied Camp Kinggold on the fonrth day, at noon. The arrival of the steamer seemed to be an event that created a great excitement. All the soldiers off duty, and several officers, awaited our landing on the dock. This being the only mode of communication that theBe exiles have with their kind, the arrival of a mail and newspapers from the w^orld be3''ond is na- turally an important occurrence. The military post of Einggold Barracks rose before us on a high sandy bluff, its rows of long, low, whitewashed modern buildings, placed at regular intervals around a level drill ground, in the centre of which rose the flag-staff, witli its colors hanging droopingly, unstirred by the sultry air. These buildings were the govern- ment store-houses, soldiers' barracks, and offi- 186 F O r. 1 . ( ) UM X i } T HE DRUM. cora' LjiiariGr^ ; lluy all rt'iiiinded me of tli« house ol* rlio foolish man, ''wlio built his founda- tiou upon the sand," all being in a similar plight. There were iiu signs of vegetation around ; not even a blade of grass was to be seen. The sentinels monotonously walking guard gave unmistakable token of a military post. The deep feeling of relief that our long jour- ney was at length at an end, made me greet with delight the first moment that I landed upon the parched and uninviting sand which composed the bluff upon which the barracks were built. Probably on the principle that " any hut unto a homeless man is welcome," it was with intense pleasure that I took possession of the house as- signed to me. Peace and cpiiet, after the tur- moil and excitement of sea-sickness and travel- ling, seemed what I might at least find here, and I now look back to the year passed in this isolated spot as one full of pleasant recollec- tions. Each day was filled with new impressions of a new country and new people. Surrounded by those whose intelligence and polish would FOLLOWIXG THE DRUM. 187 have been appreciated in tlje nioBt elegant salons in the world, I can never forget all the kindness and good-will shown to me in Texas both by our officers and the Texans. I never saw a wo- man while there, except a Mexican peasant or a camp woman. The abigail I had taken with me leceived an offer of marriage while in Brownsville, which (being over thirty-five) she accepted with alacrity, preferring a permanent situation at the head of the establisliment of a sentimental blacksmith, to one less certain. In consequence, I was left to the tender mercies of an African valet de chambre, who took the place i){ femiru de chambre, to wliicli he had been drilled by some navy officers, wb.oin lie accom- panied on a cruise in t'ne ^feditorranean. He proved himself what in pathetic language might be called the comfort of this period of my life ! This faithful negro shone both literally and figu- ratively in many capacities ; he was at once chambermaid, waiter, and housekeeper ; and like that faithful Scotchman, Caleb Balderstone, prided himself on keeping up the style of the familv ! ^o matter how forlorn tlie fare, the 13S F O T. T. O W I N G THE D R V M . silver, glass, and cliiua glistened in itaniacnlate purity, and Joseph Williams always, I may say, presided at our board with an untiring grace and elegance of demeanor ! A soldier officiated as cook, and with the occasional assistance of a drummer-boy as scullion, divided the labors of the household, with which I never dreamed of interfering. It was May when we readied there, and we were plunged into a tropical summer, which would have been unendurable had it not been for the delightfully cool nights, when a sea- breeze, full of the fresh aroma of tlie ocean, would spring up. During tlie lieat of tlie day, aggravating visions of i^ewport would at times come across me, but in spite of all inconveni- ences novelty is so charming that I found a great deal to enjoy in this new land ; the cli- mate was very salubrious, and cholera almost unheard of. During the summer months I re- mained a great deal at home. It was not till the fall that we commenced riding about the country in search of adventure and novelty. These months passed by rapidly. I amused FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 139 myself making a kind of Itobinson Onsoe col- lection of pets. By September it consisted of a fawn, two goats, a flock of doves, a brood of chickens, a parrot, four dogs of different kinds, several mocking birds, and some orioles, to say nothing of a tiger cub, of whom I had a mortal fear, who was kept chained, and poked at, and fed on raw meat by our faithful negro, who took these judicious means of taming him ! This small specimen of " a happy family" was kept in a large inclosure in the rear of the house, surrounded by a high fence of interlaced brush- wood, peculiar to Mexican ranchos. In a mounted regiment, blood horses of course abound, but they all had too much spirit to go in harness, although superb under the bit. We could not extend our rides very far from the gar- rison, on account of the frequent close neighbor- hood of the Camanches. The only safe ride was a racecourse just outside of the govern- ment grounds. We made many unsuccessful efforts to get a horse that would go in a wagon, and one day heard of a pair that were to be sold, which had been ridden down from "Northern Texas 140 POT. L O WIS Cy T H E 1') R U M . across the prairies^ and were used up, by being overworked on the road. Their owner, a rough Texan, now offered, them for sale. One died before we got there, and the otlier ! A mere ver- bal description can never do him justice ! J^ihs were the chief impression he produced, but his owner said oats and rest would restore him, and he would fatten up, and become a splendid crit- ter ! With this vague hope he was purchased for " about five dollars," his owner " reckoned." 1 did not wonder at the snorting and pawing of the ground (expressive of impatience and dis- gust) performed by the horse I was sitting, as he came in contact with this miserable specimen of his race, while it took all my strength to hold him in. The way-worn creature was sent to the garri- son that afternoon, but evidently felt the exer- tion to be too much for his feeble frame. Oats and bran were administered Avith but small success. For weeks he lingered on, occasionally taking little walks or standing mournfully un- der the shed wniich was his stable, looking so sad, so pation^, and so motionless, that rows of FOLLOWI.VG T II K DRUM. 141 blackbirds would perch ou liis sliai:p backboue, iiiimoletfted bj the feeble switches of his scanty tail I Unlike other horses, he did not " feel his oats ;" his prime had passed ; there was no more '' fattening up" for him in this w^orld. That he would never be a " splendid critter" again was evident ! He finally died from swallowing a wine-glass! A peculiar death, one of unfre- quent occurrence, and worth at least a word of explanation. A basket of straw, which had been used in packing glass, stood near his shed. He took a mouthful of it, jyoiir passer le terrips^ one sultry morning. A wine-glass remained among it, en- cased most elaborately in hay (as is the wont of professional packers to encase them). This he recklessly bit at, it got into his throat, and proved the instrument that accomplished hia death. Peace be to his veteran bones, for the}? were many! Another of my dumb friends to whom I can- not fail to pay the tribute of a few words of remembrance, was — a chicken ! — whose benevo- lence of disposition and kindness of heart ele 142 F O 1. L O W ^ N (x T H K I) RUM. vated him in my eyes far above the level of the humble race to which he belonged. His perso nal appearance was yellow, delicate, and very bobtailed! his mien was subdued and even melancholy, so much so that he involuntarily reminded me of a young divinity student whom I had known ! An old hen of his acquaintance had a brood of children, one of whom she maltreated, or, to use the technical phrase, " hen-pecked," so that the poor thing, too small to pick for itself, would have been left 1^. die, had not this tender-hearted and philanthropic chicken come to its rescue. He took it literally " under his wing," where it slept at night. He picked food for it, providing it with grasshoppers, spiders, and other delica- cies. One was never to be seen without the other; they presented quite a touching sight, even if they were only chickens. Their final fate was a sad one ! At times our larder was in a deplorable condition, quite bare, without a resource left by which it might be replenished ; while on other occasions, when a Mexican ^vould ride into camp with a dozen wild tur- FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 1 i3 kej8 swung across his saddle, it was quite the opposite. Sometimes an Ir.dian hunter would ride uj> to the door with a whole deer, even the skin and antlers, and scores of prairie hens, and game of every kind, hanging in the rear. At such times there was nothing to complain of, but at others, if a piece of kid or rabbit, or a few turnips (sold for a real^ or a shilling apiece), could be obtained, it was looked upon as almost too good fortune to be real. At one period, which I shall never forget, the quartermaster's stores were reduced to mouldy flour and rancid pork, two luxuries that ai*e not generally very highly appreciated, even by the unfastidious. A long drought had lowered the river by extensive evaporations, so as to render it unna- vigable; and the same cause had parched the country around, making it even more than usually sterile and unproductive. The steamboat with the monthly supplies of provisions could not get up the river. Staiwa- tion seemed staring us in the face. Even frijoles (the Mexican bean, an unfailing stand-by) 144 F O L L O W 1 \ G T Tl E D li T \V . became scarce, and butter, milk, Ijread, and otUei' sncli small but necessary items, were utterlj^ unknowu to U8 for weeks. At this period din- ner became a dreadful ordeal, it seemed like swallowing a succession of pills; but he would have been a cowardly soldier who complained, when all suffered alike, and the subject of food was one that was dropped by mutual consent! — discussion would only have aggravated the eviL It was during this time, when sickness and " les vapeurs noirs" confined me to the liouse, that my poor little friend, the chicken and the forlorn little one that he had befriended, were transformed into an ignoble fricassee. They were not roasted, out of respect to my feelings, as by their differeiice of size (which was marked) I might have recognised them! 'No instinct warned me that I was partaking of my friends. They must have tasted tenderly, if the mind has the infiiience over the body they say it has. I was afterwards told the particulars of their fate : As our resources diminished for supplying the table, the eyes of our colored dependant fixerl themselves on this loving pair, who., how- FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 145 ever, fonglit manfully and sagaciously for their lives, — three successive days retiring under the house just before the- very hour of execution arrived, with an intelligent expression of " no, you don't," on their pointedly expressive faces. Finally, they were cut off while in the arms of Morpheus (if Morpheus admits poultry into those precincts!), and formed the above men- tioned dish. I felt very badly on the following day, when I found that they had been eaten, but was com- forted by the thought of how many in a state of famine had been obliged to eat their intimate friends, and even their best fitting boot ! It is always best to philosophize. In fact, some of our fates would be unendurable were it not for this wonderful and unfailing panacea. At last the joyful news arrived that "The Corvette" was a few miles down the river with supplies, but "stiicJc'' in a sand-bar, and the time of its precise arrival consequently very uncertain. Two " gallant sons of Mars " innuedi- ately volunteered, and started on horseback to go down the river, and bring me some supplies. l-i:6 ¥ U LLO VV 1 N G THE L> E U M. They returned towards evening, lieavilv lade ., receiving my gratitude as " ample compensatioB '' for a day's toil. A fine illustration of tlie word politeness/ and cj^uite worthy of record. Under the most favorable circumstances, the food was flavored with red ants, which were so thick that it was impossible to eat without de- vouring them by scores. They tasted something like caraway seed, and were not as disagreeable as a novice might suppose ! The water we drank came from the Eio Grande, and was invariably lukewarm. After straining it, it was kept in a stone jug encased in wet flan- nel, and suspended by a cord in the air, for the purpose of cooling it as much as possible. The butter was almost unpalatable from its soft liquid appearance, and was kept in stone jars under ground with bricks laid over them. The milk was that of cows and goats, promiscuously milked in the same pail. The vermin, the famine, hot winds, and dry soil, which caused clouds of dust to fill the sultry air of July and August and lodge on everything, made me begin to think that General Twiggs' FOLLOWING THE DEUM. 147 advice, that it would be better to remain in JSTew Orleans and keep a thread and needle 8tore than go to Texas, had been quite judicious ! However, th^e evils began to disappear in a measure as the reason of fall and winter approached, and our rides became longer and more varied. lis F O L L O W 1 N G T H K D K U M CHAPTEK XIV. About a mile above Kinggold Barracks, on the banks of the E,io Grande, lies the town of " Eio Grande City," until quite recently known as " Davis's Kanche," so called from its founder and present chief magistrate, the Honorable II. Clay Davis, upon the history of whose life it would not be uninteresting, perhaps, to dwell for a moment. He left his home in Kentucky when quite a boy. His father had been dead some years, and becoming tired of the restraint imposed upon him by an injudicious mother, he decided to seek for himself his fortune or his fate. Commencing his new career by a rash en- counter on a Mississippi river steamboat, in which he wounded (mortally, as was supposed) a fellow-passengeu, he was compelled to take a F O T. L n -\V T X G THE D R TT :Nr . 149 liiirried departure for Arkuns is. Alone, witli- oiit a friend and without a dollar, a fugitive from justice, perhaps a murderer, a houseless wanderer in a wild, unsettled region ! Fine prospects for a young lad of fifteen, and rather a peculiar "start in the world" for a hero 1 ITevertheless he entered upon the task of sup- porting existence with no misgivings as to the future, yet without any fixedness of purpose or ambition, a fault which has lost to the world many a noble spirit, who would otherwise have left behind him an honored name. A man seldom reaches the " mountain tops of fame " who has not placed his foot upon the ladder in early life. The eager aspirations of youth ex- cite to the effort, while the cool judgment of manhood directs the purpose. As the hot sun of summer calls the fruit into existence, so the less heated rays of autumn mellow it into ripe- ness and perfection of beauty. It would be a long story to follow his earlier career. Its many vicissitudes tanght him self- reliance, and its many escapes from danger gave him a recklessness which, in after years, 150 F o L L o w T X a T n F rm u M was exhibited to a remarkable degree in the Texas war of independence. He had joined the first expedition into this State, where he found himself among men of tastes and dispositions similar to his own. He was actively engaged in all those battles which gave the world so strong an impression of An- glo-Saxon endurance. Fighting simply for the love of it, he cared less for the result than for the pleasm-able excitement it produced. After the annexation of Texas to the United States his "occupation" was "gone," and he became an aimless wanderer once more, until at last he found himself, after many weary days' travel, on the banks of the Hio Grande. It was at the twilight hour that he arrived there, and throwing himself on the ground at the foot of an ebony tree, he soon fell asleep, and dreamed of his home and early years, of his mother's admonitions, and his desertion of her — of the struggles he had gone through since, and the temptations he had encountered and yielded to. The sun was high in the hea- vens before his sleep was disturbed, but he FOLLOWING T H E D RUM. 151 awoke a changed man. Ont of these dreams had come a determination to retrieve the past. How well he has kept his determination is shown by the flourishing settlement that now marks what was then a barren spot. The ebony tree has been inclosed and sur- rounded by a seat of white plaster. It stands conspicuously at the entrance of the town, and is remarkable in this barren land for its height and beauty. It is carefully watered and che- rished with feelings of sentiment for the dreams inspired under its protecting branches. It forms the favorite evening resort for the principal men of the place, who meet here to discuss their' own affairs, those of their neighbors, and the nation at large, quite in • the style of Gold- smith's " Hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade." Clay Davis was a true specimen of the Texan, tall and athletic, yet his delicately cut features, carefully trimmed moustache, and air distingue^ bespoke rather the modern carpet knight than the hero and pioneer of the wilderness. Associa- 152 F o 1. L O W I N tT THE D R U M . tion with the Mexicans had given him a peculiar style of manner, a mixture of Western frank- ness and tlie stateliness of the Spaniard ; a low-toned voice, and a deference mixed with assurance. There were many rumors afloat of his gallant bravery, and one that reminded me of David and Goliah, in which he had slain a famous Camanche chieftain in single coml^at, ridding the frontier of one of its direst scourges. We do not have to go beyond our native land for material for the wildest romance. To a mind like Cooper's, Texas opens a n'^w field, ■fall of intense and varied interest for tb^i novel wi'iter. Mr. Davis always -greeted us with a \Felcome when we made our appearance in the »-anche,. and frequently sent presents of venison, game, or melons to the garrison. He once sent me a white tea rose, the only one that had ever been seen in this part of the world, accompanied by a poetical epi?tle in jprose^ which I would copy for its intrinsic beauty, were it not too personal. It was a fine spea'«>eD FOLLOW! N"G THE DRUM. 153 of the peculiar and uncuhivated natural elu- quence of the West, where exalted sentiment, and what might seem to ns overstrained poetry of expression, is quite natural. These "Western people have not yet been brought under the influence of the modern school of light literature originated by certain sarcastic and popular* authors, who, with their thousand imitators, draw scenes from debauched life in populous cities, which turn all that is great and soul-stirring to ridicule, regarding satire on noble, elevated, and philanthro2:)ic sub- jects, as an evidence of high intellectual powers. These writers have done more towards destroying the poetry of life, than to elevate and improve the mind, differing widely from the quaint humor and heroic picturing of Sir Walter Scott, which cause alternately a smile and glow of enthusiasm. Rio Grande City was first settled in 1848, and is now a prosperous village, containing about one thousand inhabitants, consisting of Ameri- cans, Mexicans, and a few Spaniards. The buildings consist of Mexican hackals, the ir>l FOLLO^.VTN-G THR BRUM. ])rick stores of the Americans, and the store honses and dwelling of Mr. Davis, whicli front a plaza, where the market is daily held in the open air. The lazy Mexicans lie around in the sun, with large o]3en baskets spread out be- fore them, containing the most untempting mer- chandise, of scanty vegetables, goat's flesh, and beef, cut in strips and dried in the sun. This they sell by the yard ; so that a person, in going to market, is afforded a convenient way of mea- suring accurately the appetite of those he has to provide for! The cakes and confectionery — made of flour, lard, and molasses — are disagree- able even to look at. Their taste it is impossible to imagine. The fandango court-yard here, as in all towns where Mexican habits at all prevail, is one of the chief attractions, and forms one of its prin- cipal features ; a square inclosure,' with three sides benches, and one side booths, where dancing, drinking, and gambling are kept up the greater part of the night. • On the outskirts of the tow^n the people are annually fencing in new corn fields, so that in FOLLO^VTN■r^ tttk T)Hri\r. 155 spite of tlie barrenness of the land, tlie place looks quite thriving, having somewhat that as- pect of fresh invigorating progress so generally found among our young and vigorous people, who, like poor " Joe AUalone," are always " moving on, moving on." A billiard room, an eating saloon, a bakery, and even a " pharmacie," with a most preten- tious soda water fountain, are found here. All these attractions and comparative luxuries render it a place of great importance in this part of Texas. This was a great rendezvous for filibusters, among whom could be found more true-souled honesty and genuine generosity than many would be led to suj^pose. Many a dare-devil Texan would scorn the paltry meanness, and fire at the acts of fraud perpetrated hj friend on friend which are of not unfrequent occurrence in our civilized me- tropolis. In the Texan are combined the raciness of the Kentuckian, the Creole impetuosity of Louisia- na, with the reckless heart-in-hand spirit of the 15f) FOLLOWING THE DRUM. Soutli-Wcst. They follow different callings, from the scout to the office-holder under the Government, but there exist no false distinc- tions among them. A man stands simply on his own merits. The word blase, or the idea con- veyed by it, is unknown. Fresh as nature around them, their hearts beat true to the call of friendship, and respect for women seems an innate principle, while daring and bravery are no second nature, but nature itself. The chances of life are so continually perilled that it creates a recklessness unknown to us purchasers of life-preservers, who repose in the security of a private watch ! Our rides, on account of the climate, always took place towards evening. The tAvilight here is very short, day at its decline merging sudden- ly into darkness. Tlie horses always took the same direction, the road that lay between the garrison and the ranche. It was a beaten cattle- track, cut through the chapparal, forming part of what had once been a race-ground used by the officers during the late war, when sta- tioned opposite here at Camargo. F O T. L O W I N G T H K DRUM. 167 In tliese rides we frequently met a peaceable peasant driving home his flock of goats for their evening milking, or a band of huntsmen wrapped in gay blankets, bright ribbons streaming from their sombreros, returning from the day's chase with the game hung over their horses' backs. "We were obliged to ride slowly on account of the heavy, deep sand, and thickly growing briers and cacti which ran all over the ground. "Walk- ing was impossible, even if the scorpions, taran- tulas, and venomous snakes lurking in the scanty vegetation, had been more rare. There never was a country more unfitted by nature to be the home of civilized man, than this region of the lower Eio Grande in Texas. It seems to hate civilization. Everything looks discouragingly on the settler, refusing to smile on his most earnest efforts, pointing with a grim and solemn aspect to those flowery plains of the l^orth where encouragement and plenty await him. It seems only to be intended as a home for desperate men, escaped refugees from the law; men who live in the saddle, and on the prairie seek their subsistence*, such as 158 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. give to Texas any bad reputation its population may have. In this wild region deeds are sometimes enacted which make the blood run cold to read of ; yet we should bear in mind the vast extent of the country, and not judge of the character of the State by the isolated acts of a roving population. The Americans on the Eio Grande may be considered as the most daring, adventurous set of men in the world. Actuated solely by the reckless spirit of adventure and restless Icfve for the new and exciting, many of their lives present scenes of peril which none could encounter unless possessed of iron nerve, and which have left upon their souls the impress of a new nature. The history of each differs from the other, yet through the character of all there runs a tinge of romance and chivalry which cannot fail to excite our admiration, although we might wish to see these strong energies directed to a better purpose. They are essentially a peculiar race, with FOLLOWING THE DRUM- 159 marked individualities belonging to them alone. Their innate nobility and high-toned sense of honor reseiible more the days of Ivanhoe and Richard Cceur-de-Lion, than our more modern acceptation of the term. The early pioneers of all our Western States were restless spirits from the colonies who, as civilization advanced, and the first settlements became thickly populated, possessing many of the restraints and few of the advantages of European cities, pushed onward into the wilder- ness to find, like Robin Hood and his '^ merrie men," a home in the forest glade, their sole com- panionship nature in her varied forms of beauty. Civilization, as it has followed them, has urged them, like the red men, westward. Familiar and hourly intercourse with nature has given them a tone of mind differing widely from the men of the East, who would amaze them by their "business tact" as much as they in their turn astonish these sons of trade by their hardy enduring livx^s of self-exposure and pri- vation. Since we left Texas, there has been a great 160 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. overflow in tlie Eio Grande, and everything green has flourished. The crops have been very luxuriant. They however have been com- pelled to pay for this a high price, as the fever and ague has become very prevalent in con- sequence, " the shakes" (as they call this malady all over the newly settled portions of the West) preventing in a measure the enjoyment of this imwonted luxuriance and plenty. While we were there the climate was very salubrious, in fact famously so ; the winter days were as soft, and warm, and balmy as at the Havana. The summer-heat indeed would have been almost unbearable, were it not for the cool refreshing night breezes. In the rainy season the river is apt to over- flow its banks, and leave numerous little lakes and large pools wherever there is a depres- sion of the ground. The soil prevents rapid absorption, and causes these to remain for weeks. In them the Mexican women can be seen at any hour of the day washing clothes, while their little naked children are s}>hishing in the water in great glee, <>r lying asleep on the bare FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 161 ground, under a sliady bush, like so many little animals. On ordinary occasions tlie river is used for lavatory purposes, and women washing their clol^es on the banks, while others spread them on the brush-wood to dry, form a very pretty scene. Towards evening it is full of bathers, men, women, and children. Tl^y swim with pe- culiar agility, more like water-fowl in their fear- less divings, than human beings. * By di-iving about the country among the peasantry, at whose huts we always stopped to inquire if they had anything to sell, we became very well known among them. I finally com- menced looking upon them as a new circle of friends and acquaintances. They are an amiable, smiling, innocent race of people, utterly unconscious of the higher emotions of civilization save the feeling of sympathy in misfortune, which pervades all classes of Mexicans. So universal is this sentiment that the bit- terest enemv, in the hour of trouble, will 10 162 F o L L o w I X (; r u k d k u m . receive care and attention. The well known devotion of the Mexican women to the sick and wounded of our army during the war, finds no parallel in history; and their love, whether for friend or lover, when once kindled, is flame in all but its short-livedness. This lovely trait of sympathy is evident in the commonest intercourse. Their overflowing kind- ness of purpose, 4hat shows itself in every trifle, has left on my memory an indelible impression of kindnerss towards this innocent, warm-hearted race. Yet, mild and inoffen- sive as they usually are, they have enough Spanish blood left in their veins to be occa- sionally roused to deeds of desperation and bloodshed. at The white complexion of an American and blue eyes are their beau-ideal of beauty, in contrast to their own dark skins and black eyes ; but a negro they regard as the climax of loveliness ! The more ebon his complexion, the woollier his locks, the more claim he has ou thieir admiration ! On the Lower Rio Grande there are no F O L L U W 1 NT a T l[ V: D R IJ M . 16o slaveliolders ; tlie close neighborliood of Mexico renders escape so easy tliat no slaves are ever brought here. Our colored dependent, the only specimen of his race in these parts, was very much petted by the Mexican peasant women (who literally adore the sons of Africa) ! The effects of this appreciation were soon visible ! as I was relieved from the somewhat arduous duty of directing frequent billets (they could not be called billets- \V I N <; T H E I» R U M. coarse, which destroycHl tliat appearance of re- finement po essential to a beanty tliat can inspire ^ cultivated taste witli admiration. Tlie men rode on mules, Frequently a woman was seat- ed on a pillion behind them, carrying a bambino for the priest to christen at Camargo. At length a turn in the road brought us in mglit of the town. The round stone tower of the quaint old cathedral, surmounted by a belfry and a massive stone cross, seemed to terminate the road. On the immediate outskirts of the town lies a burial ground, which has been there for centu- ries. It is surrounded by a high, ungainly-look- ing brick wall, with a singularly colossal mas- sive gateway in the Alhambric style. There are traces of great former splendor dis- cernible everywhere in Camargo, which was formerly a place of considerable consequence, but of late years has been falling into a state of dilapidation. Most of the houses are built of stone, always but one stoiy high, Avith flat roofs, ►and the whole place is as un-American in its ap- pearance, both as regards the architecture of its FOLLOWING THE D P. U AI . 1S5 buildings and the character of its inhnhitants, as it would be possible to imagiue. A quadrangular plaza, faced by dilapidated stone buildings, centuries old, forms a centre from which diverge a series of streets, with pro- miscuous houses, some of logs, or adobes, with thatched roofs, and some mere shelters from the sun, that a summer wind might destroy. A few of the houses still bear traces of fresco on their exteriors, and many of elaborate stone carving, while the doors and windows are heavily bar- red, like those of Havana, giving a gloomy, prison-like aspect to the city. This precaution is taken that the whole house may be thrown open and yet protected. It gives the inhabitants a very small share of pri- vacy, and a stranger walking through the streets gets quite an insight into their inner life. We went inside of the cathedral, an anti- quated pile falling rapidly into decay, where the priest (an outrageous old sinner) daily mum- bles a Latin mass to a superstitious, ignorant audience, who regard even his most flagrant sins witli pious reverence. 180 F <> Ti L W TNG THE I) H U M. Tliere was but one long, niirrow aisle, and two transepts, forming a cross, and a high altar, witli low shrines on either side ; one to that once erring saint, Peter, and the other inscribed to the Queen of Heaven — some wax figures, larger than life, of the Crucifixion, the Virgin, and several of the Apostles, formed one of the most fearful and unnatural groups the imagination can picture. There was one very old and very lovely picture in the church, in the rich deep coloring of the Spanish school, representing the sweet face of Mary with the child, in wliich — "The maid mother, by a crucifix, In tracts of pasture, sunny warm. Sat smiling — babe in arms.' While we were in the cathedral a Texan whom we knew, and wlio resided in Camargo, came in search of us, bringing an invitation from some Spanish ladies, with their compliments, and hopes that we would pass the time we were in Camargo under their roof. I was quite anxious to see a specimen of high life in Mexico, in con- trast with tlie peasant life, of which I had seen BO much, and accepted their invitation. F L Ti O W T X T f I K DRUM, 1 ST Fulluwing our conductor, we scfbn found our ' selves in an old dilapidated stone porcli, its many traces of former beauty fast crumbling away, vanishing among " the things that were." The family came out with a warm welcome to meet us, and we were ushered into a large, cool, any drawing-room, off the front door, adorned with pictures, and leading into a dining-room in the rear, which w^as paved with stone tilesj the back of the room opening with a large arched way into a yard and garden in the rear, where ruined fountains and stone benches showed that there had once been extensive and tasteful plea- sure grounds. A cool breeze swept through the half darkened rooms, giving a very refreshing feeling of repose after our somewhat warm drive. The eldest sister of the family, named Dolores, had lost her husband a year before from the cholera, at the same time with her father and mother, and she with her two younger sisters had been left under the care of an elder brotlier, in possession of the familv house. She was a widow — but not one of tliose disconsolate and 1 SS F O L L O W T X G T H R D R U M . irrepariibly "Bereaved kind, who look upon tlie remainder of their lives as a state of probation. On the contrary, her eyes literally glowed with showers of smiles and animation, and her rich dark hair was plaited in massive braids on either side of her face, in the most coquettish manner possible. She was not five-and-twenty, and they said her husband had been " a brute !" Some old play says " all married women's husbands are brutes !" but the play is a comedy, and they sometimes exaggerate. She w\as beautiful, and had what the world technically calls " a favored suitor." AYho could blame her if after a year's mourning she smiled coquettishly ? Considering the serious drawback of my speak- ing very bad Si^anisli, and she speaking very bad French, our conversation was remarkably animated, continuous, and even philosophical ! I quite agreed with her that the most absurd thing a young and charming widow could do, was to barter a self-created chain of roses for the iron links of Hymen. The two younger sisters, Inanita and Antoi- netta, and a staid elderly brotlier, formed the FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 189 fmiiily. Tliese former were not as decidedly liandsome or as decidedly intelligent as Dolores, altliougli rather in her style, but as they were both redolent of "bread and butter," it was hardly fair to judge prematurely of their attrac- tions ; that bouquet must have entirely vanished, before the fascinations can fully develope them- selves. When dinner was announced I was handed with no little ceremony, by Don Jesu, into the dining-room, which opened on the gar- den in the rear, through a stone archway. Simi- lar arches on either side opened, on the one hand, into a long low kitchen, and on the other into the carriage-house, where stood the massive family coach, covered with brass mountings and armorial bearings, but which was seldom used, as their means could not supply the necessary horses and men. Tlie coach, however, remained a relic of the departed glories of their line, and was preserved with almost religious care. It seems impossible to entirely eradicate the old Cabtilian pride of blood. In all the bet- ter class of houses, both here and in Havana, the roojii for the carriage is in qIohq vicinity to 190 FOLLOWING THE DRUM other suites of apartments. In it the family pets generally find a home. This one was full of wicker-work cages of strange and beautiful birds, orioles and mocking-birds, those " nightin- gales of the south." Several fearful, unnatural- looking, but highly prized ducks, roamed tamely at large, and often found their way in very un- comfortably close vicinity to the feet of an un- suspecting guest. A tame stork with a very vicious face, tied by the leg, made me fearfully nervous that he might escape from restraint. A beautiful little paroquet, pea-green, with a crimson top-knot and very knowing eyes, kept repeating his own praises continually, in every mood and tone peculiar to that conceited and self- appreciating race of birds. A tame fawn exqui- sitely small and beautiful, and a glass basin -of gold fish, completed this zoological list. Tlie Mexican women are very fond of pets, especially a race of dogs, that are jet black, without any hair. They seem to be made of black india-rubber, and are anything but beautiful, although they are cherished with the greatest fondness by their mistresses, who manufacture a peculiar FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 191 kind of sufc wool cusbion, of various shades of Lriglit colors, for them to lie on. The Chihuahua dogs are rare, even here in such close vicinity to Mexico, but they are in great demand, on ac- count of their beauty. They are less than a foot long, and six or eight inches high, looking as if they might have been imported by Gulliver, on his return from the kingdom of Lilliput. The dinner was of a most peculiar description, to a pei-son unused to Mexican customs and habits of life. It commenced with a compound of leeks, onions, and red peppers, a kind of soap, of which the smell was sufficient for one course. A pyramid of spun sugar, flanked by two mas- sive silver flagons of vin ordinaire, ornamented the centre of the table. The rest of the table equipage was plain and American. Tlie second coui'se was formed of a large dish of beef and mutton stewed together, and small apples and peaches stewed whole with it. These were piled in the centre with an embankment of maglied yellow turnips surrounding it. I was getting dreadfully nervous, for fear the dinner might pass without mv sense of courtesy fore- 192 FOLLOWING T H E , D R U M . iiig me to taste even a iiioutliful of die extraor- dinary viands of semi-barbaric food. A dish of frijoles at length appeared, and caused a deep sigh of relief on my part. Chickens, with rice, sugar, and pepper, all boiled up together, regard- less of small feathers, followed, and then came the dessert, dulcies of candied cactus and melons, made by the Sefioritas themselves, wdiich were really beautiful, a bright green, cov- ered with a coat of crystallized sugar. A peon or blave stood behind each chair, besides several extra ones, whose duty it was to go to the kitchen, where two women on their knees were rolling and baking tortillas as rapidly as they could, which the attendants took hot from the fire, on the palms of their disagreeable looking hands, and bringing them to the table, would literally jla]) them (vide Johnson) down on the cloths beside every one's plate. These are used in the place of bread ; they are made o? ground or crushed corn, and are baked in large flat cakes the size of sea-biscuit, on a peculiar kind of broad, open oven, which article, it is a singular fact, is uianufactiired for the Mexican market FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 193 ill the city of Kew York, The tortillas seem c[uite tasteless and unpalatable to a person un- used to them, but are very generally used by all classes of Mexicans. It is very amusing to watch the women on their knees rolling out the dough on a wooden tray, and then baking them. After dinner and cafe now came the cigars and cigaritos. Dolores offered to initiate me into the universal custom in the country of smok- ing, with many jokes at my being so an fait for a novice, such an apt scholar, &c., &c. I had heard a great deal of the grace with which these donnas handled their cigaritos, but as I had seen a Iwufie or two during my few brief summers, I thought that, compara- tively speaking, they had been very much overrated. Dolores took me to her chambre a coucher^ and showed me many of her treasures, books, pictui'es, and embroideries, all of which displayed refinement of taste and a higher culture than is generally found in a place where there are so few advantages ol' education to profit bv. Thev 12 " 1 9 i 1' O L L O A\^ 1 ^" G T H E ]; U U M. had o\or a dozen peons or slaves, whose prin- cipal hnsiness seemed to l)e to lie aronnd idle, witlioiit any, effort at occupying themselves more than was absolutely necessary. One of them, a girl of about eighteen, had never seen an Ame- rican woman before, and got into raptm'es over even so humble a specimen of them as myself, saying: ^^ComohelM! comohlanGCi P'' (how beauti- ful ! how white !) All the peons crowded around at lier exclamations, to look at the ^'' Senorita }>lanca^'' and finally the girl could restrain her feelings of intense admiration no longer, but after patting and stroking my hands, saying they luid never rolled tortillas (a fact which I did not deny), she gave me a sudden and overpowering ]iug, which entirely took away my breath. Bather a familiar and disgusting evidence of admiration ! Another peon, a withered old crone, almost bent in two with age, sat rocking herself backwards and forwards on a stone bench in the garden. Tliey told me she was insane, imd had been so for more than fifty years, having at that far ofl[' period been crossed in love by an officer from the city of Mexico, who, F U L !. O W I N Cr 'I H E 1) K IJ M . 10£ it seems, like tlie "false young knight" of old, " had loved and then rode awaj." This O-d and lovelorn damsel had, since her wits had taken leave of her, lived on the public, owning no one place for a home, and yet for over fifty years she had been well clothed, well fed, and sheltered, although there were no insane asylum funds or taxes — speaking well for the humanity of the inhabitants of Camargo. Except the many booths where ordinary American trifles and merchandise were sold, and an extra crowd of loungers in the streets, we saw no evidence of the great national fair. "We found we had arrived literally "a day too late for the fair." It had been held for the past week, and the merchants and visitors were now separating for their different homes. The last of the bull-fights (to my everlasting regret) had taken place the night before. That evening there was to be a ball and fireworks, as a "wind up" to this festal season. The fireworks ot Mexico are famous for their beauty ; those made by Europeans and Americans cannot be com- pared to them, Dolores entreated us to stay at 196 FOLLOWINGTHE DRUM. tlieir lioiLse all niglit, but that being impossible, we bade them a cordial, almost an affectionate, adieiij with promises of a speedy reciprocation of mj visit on their part. Circumstances which closely followed, induced them to leave Camargo and take up their per- manent residence in the city of Mexico, thus effectually preventing our meeting again. TOLL () ^V ! N G T 11 E P K T M . J 0' CHAPTEK XYin. FrLIBUSTERIKG. As Christmas approached, rumors of revohi- tion on the Mexican frontier became rife ; bands of filibusters were heard of in the neighbor- liood, and political intrigue absorbed all other topics of interest. A scheme had been arranged for some time past between General Can ales, the General-in-chief of the Mexican militia, and General Arista, the President of the Republic of Mexico, to declare the northern portions of that country (where the latter owned vast pos- sessions) an independent State, which in the course of time they proposed to annex to the United States, and in the meanwhile to demand our support and protection, under the new title of the " Republic of Sierra Madre." The most prominent and active leader in the cause was Caravajal, one of the shrewdest 198 F o I, L o w I X ( r T n K I) t; u m . Btatesmeu of Mexico — a man of astute intellect, and more than ordinary mental culture. The plans of these diplomatic heads were for a bloodless revolution. The troops belonging to the regular army of Mexico had all been with- drawn from the frontier, and the militia (paid vassals and confederates in the scheme) placed there, agreeing to silently and indisputably sur- render all power to him. Under this new phase of government, taxes and the custom-houses were alike to be abolished, and a free trade to be established with the United States. These plans were confided to many of the Texan lodge of Free-Masons, to which fraternity Caravajal belonged, and as their interests as merchants were a good deal involved in the issue, they joined heartily with the revolu- tionists. Caravajal was by education an American, al- though most patriotically devoted to the land of his birth. He had acquired a superior classical education at the University of Kentucky, where he had graduated, and consequently was men- tally superior to most of his countrymen, the FOLLOWIXG THE DRUM 199 Mexican institutions, for tlie education of youtli being of a very inferior descrij^tion. He was a small man, with a dark complexion and an eagle eye, the beauty of his excessively ugly face — like a Scotch terrier — consisting of this 'very ngliness combined with an ex- pression of great intelligence. The first time that I saw hun, I was on horseback, riding across the chapparal to the ranche, on a shop- ping expedition, to purchase a few of the many luxuries to be found there. When we met Caravajal, I knew him in an instant, by the etylish way in which he wore his black felt sombrero, by the silver-mounted pistols in his belt, and by the pure English accent of his salu- tation. The Texans, impatient for the moment to arrive wlien the custom-houses and taxes w^re to be done away with, and their goods in consequence pass into Mexico free of duty, were annoyed at the slow and decidedly un-American style in which affairs were being conducted, and there- for^ determined to infuse a little more " patrio- tism" (as the}" called it) into the counsels of tlie 200 F O T. L O W I N a T R K D R U M .^ leaders. Tli rough them i\ new turn was given to affairs, and what was in the first place to have heen effected by diplomacy, was now destined to terminate in a series of sanguinary engagements, with rapine, mnrder, and destruction in their train. These commenced directly opposite us, in the siege of Camargo by a mixed army of Americans and Mexicans, led on by Caravajal, roused to so high a pitch of enthusiasm, that men from the ranks were daily deserting tlie garrison of Ringgold Barracks to Join them. On the morning of the battle we were awakened at dawn by the roar of cannon and the din of musketry that told of the engagement that was going on, w^ithin less than three miles of us. The point of the highest eminence in the garrison was a balcony surrounding the flag- staff, whicli was placed on a high ridge of land ; a flight of winding steps led to it. "We hurried there to see what we could of the fight. . Tlie cold grey dawn of December was just melting under the warm influence of early day A few stars shone dimly around the faint out- line of a new moon, and the crimson and FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 201 golden rays of a southern sun glowed and sparkled on the frosty air as it rose slowly in the horizon over the mountains des Lampases. With the exception of one mountain range, the sun'ounding country was flat, and on every side prairie lands lay stretched as far as the eye could see, till sky and land seemed merged into an indistinct vapor. The Kio Grande wound its sluggish way amidst its barren sandy banks, more like a wide canal than a river. The buildings of Camp Ringgold lay at our feet. A little fur- ther up the river was Rio Grande City. Flags were hoisted from the house-tops, and signs of an unusual bustle and excitement prevailed. Almost directly opposite lay Camargo, the scene of the battle. A heavy, dull, vapory cloud hung over the country in that direction, and the firing of guns, wild yells of men ar*d neighing of hoi-ses, in mingled confusion, cauie wafted to us at intervals on the clear morning breeze, giving token of the struggle that "was going on between the filibuster and Mexican f<:>rce8. The Mexican troops, who occupied the to\T-n, 202 FOLLOWING THE DV.V M . had taken tlie precaution to leave tlieir barracks the moment thej learned of the approach of the iilibnsterSj and formed on the plain, outside of the city walls. They knew by experience with what skill the Americans penetrated through the houses by making holes in the walls, thus passing from house to house, covering themselves from the fire of the enemy, until they were in close riiie distance, when, each man taking a careful aim, a deadly fire would be opened upon them such as few troops (and especially Mexicans) could withstand. It was to avoid all this that they had determined to meet the assailants out- side of the tov^^n, a man K U M . troubled by any uselebfs sensibility; tliey looked more like men than women. They had with them several little coi^i^er-colored papooses strapped down most unmercifully to a shingle, on whom they seemed to scorn to lavish those little foolish endearments so natm*al and spon- taneous to the n:iaternal heart. They j-ather treated them like little faggots that some stern necessity forced them not to entirely abandon. A t^ger cat with its cub that I once saw might have put their stolidity to shame ! The main portion of these lovely females were encamped with their children some few miles distant — it was only a chosen few who had been brought down to the ranclie. While we stood looking on at this motley group, and conversing with the filibuster officers, a new boat arrived from the opposite shore, and disgorged its promiscnons crew of peasantry and soldiers : among them a man landed, and came to report himself to an officer who was talking to me, so that I had the full benefit of his words. His name was Sam Stevens, evidently a private, and a person of some consequence with his con FOLLOWING THE 1) K U M . 2 i i federates, who gathered around and hailed hi.s advent, among them with a loud shout of wel- come, one of them exclaiming, '' Here's a fel- ler that's real weather-proof, he was shot in the eye by a cannon ball, and it couldn't hurt liim !" To this, Sam modestly remarked, with a broad deprecating grin, "Well, it was some- thing of a jarP'^ which speech was received w^ith a perfect howl of delight by his apprecia- tive audience. Thus encouraged (first touching his hat gallantly towards me), he gave us a spirited account of yesterday's enagement, tell- ing how Major D. had "spit fire on them greas- ers " with his rifle, and led on the forlorn hope, with a tremendous amount of "pluck." From this his discourse flowed off into a wild rhap- sody on " the great cause," making abundant use of tlie words sovereign people, freedom, liberty, and other expressions peculiarly Ameri- can in style, all of which was received by his audience with rounds of hearty applause. 1 could have remained for hours, listening and observing, with intense interest, the proceedings of these varied characters, but being with " tho 212 F (J L L O W I N" Cr T HE T) K U M . officer of tlie clay," wlio liad to return at tlie stroke of the hour to make a tour of inspection of the garrison, we tiirned our horses' heads rehictantlj homewai-ds. On the following evening, as we were taking our accustomed ride towards Rio Grande City, we met a group of Mexicans and Texans bear- ing the corpse of a man across the chapparal towards the garrison burying-ground. He had fallen in the engagement, yesterday, mortally wounded, and had died that morning on the American side of the river. We paused as they passed, and one of them handed us some papers that had been found on the body, which was wrapped in a Mexican poncho, and laid on a rough bier. lie was young, in the first flush of manhood ; his finely-cut features showed refine- ment as well as beauty. I knew instinctively that there were those living whose blood would have been checked in its course, could they have seen him as " In the twiliglit cold and grey, Liieless and beautiful he lay," FOLLOWINT, THR D K U M 9 ;3 no band of afi'ection to smootlie the tangled masses of liis liair, or to sliow those last tributes that love alone can offer to the dead. I kept the papers that these men gave me, and feel no scruples in giving the inferences that I drew ffom them, as I never found a clue to his history or even his name. Tliey con- sisted of some notes of filibuster life, and his letters, one evidently from his mother, written in a delicate tremulous hand, althouo-li the bio:- nature and superscription had been carefully destroyed. It begged her "dearest boy" to come home, as she could not live long without him. Tlie other was from his lady-love, and to the same effect. I felt much more sympathy, however, for the former than for the latter, for as a general rule bereaved lady-loves are consolable — ^but no new affection can efface the image of a lost child from its mother's heart ; no time entirely dry up her secret tears. There can never cease to be moments when through the vista of years her grief will seem as if ot yesterday. Tlie United States Court was to sit in Browns- 214 FOLLOWING THE D P. U ^f . ^•ille ill a few "lav:^, to try all of these ineii tlial coiTld be captured for a breach of tlie neutrality laws. The people there, as well as the press, took the warmest interest and felt the deepest sympathy in the success of the revolutionists, while the Court and the United States officers (whatever their private feelings may be) were in duty bound to frown on their proceedings. Rumors that the Texas Rangers, lately disband- ed from the United States service, were on their way to Rio Grande City, were very prevalent. Their object was, to get on the wilds of the prairies further north, beyond the influence of the law, and do all in their power to aid the filibuster forces in what they regarded as a rie^hteous cause. Our orovernment ordered that officers should be stationed with a certain number of men and pieces of artillery all along the river to prevent American citizens from crossing to the Mexican side, and joining what it denominated the rebel forces. Tlii& however was a very difficult, almost an imprac- ticable thing on so extensive a line ; the most they could achieve was to prevent large armed FOLLOWING THK DRUM. 215 bodies from crossing. Smaller parties could not be stopped, and it was very easy for these to rendezvous and organize on tlie otlier side. Parties of troops vrero sent out from Ringgolf the revolutionary war, who pursued their everyday vocations, unless the enemy came iu then* immediate vicinity, when, at a moment's warning, they took up arms and assembled for battle. Canales had been probably the most deadly enemj'- our army had among the hosts of tlieir Mexican opponents. Since Caravajal had broken faith with Arista and Canales, by telling their schemes to the Texan free-masons, they had ceased to act in concert, and when, from the Mexican shore, the latter saw a body of regular United States troops with two officers, encamped on the river's 216 F O L L O W [ N G T I'l E D R U .\r , bank, lie knew iiitnitiYcly their errand, and raised signal flags to attract tlieir attention. This accomplished, an American soldier was imm^ediately despatched in a " dug-out," bor- rowed from a Mexican whose ranche lay close bj, and it soon relanded with this bloody chief, who with extended arms warmly embraced the American officers, many of whose friends had fallen killed or wounded by his hand. After this affectionate yet unpleasant embrace they drank a pledge of good fellowship, Canales drinking out of a silver flagon, which I still pre- serve, and wdiich at that time formed part of the camp equipage of one of the officers of the party. He was a cor]3ulent, greasy, and benevolent looking gentleman, saying more overwhelmingly civil things in the space of five minutes than he had ever felt in the whole course of his life, with more grace of manner than it would be supposed 60 stout and elderly a person could muster. Tlie Mexicans are full of a kind of stately Sir Charles Grandison grandeur and dignity, which might be imposing to a person possessed of an impressible mind, but under other circum- F O L T. O ^V 1 N ("> T n K I) T IT M . 21 V Btances it appears forced, tiresome, and even absurd. Kno-^diig some of the outlaws quite inti- mately, I accepted an offer from one of them to send a message to the party who were in search of filibusters. CavarajaFs courier came and received my commission, and after riding express to deliver it, rode on to inform him of the whereabouts of the party of regulars who were on his track I My dreadful infnngement of etiquette was however gallantly winked at, and afforded a great topic of amusement to all parties. Rigidly observed orders would have produced a civil war, instead of attaining the desired object of suppressing revolutioii, and there w^as no little good feeling existing in many instances between the parties of the pursuer and the pursued. 218 FOLLOWING THE D R U M CHAPTER XIX. LOS INDIOS. In a wild, j^ictiiresque spot near the banks of the river, some miles above the gari-ison, the Carese Indians had ])itched their camp. Here they had left their squaws and papooses, when they join- ed the filibusters in their attack on Camargo. A company of mounted infantry was going that way, where it was reported there was some grass growing. Tliey were going out in search of it, to give their horses the unwonted luxury of a few hours' grazing. We took advantage of this escort to pay a visit to the Indian en- campment. We started very early, while still — "The maideu glory of the morning star ' Shone in the steadfast blue." Before the sun had begun to drj up the night's F O T. L O ^V T X a T [[ K T^ T^ T' ">r 21 dews, onr liorses were at tlie door. Tt was a delicious southern winter's day — " A dewy morn, With breath all incense, and with clieek all bloom, Laughing the clouds away, with playful scorn. And livmg as if earth contained no tomb, And glowing into day." A body of armed men rode in advance of us, and the rest followed in onr rear. So we rode across tlie unbeaten prairies, with nothing Imt occasional sandy ridges to obstruct onr path. Yast level plains lay on every side of ns, with their scanty covering of w^eeds and wild flowers, the clear, bright blue sky overhead, cloudless except a few white vapory masses, while the soft perfumed air of a tropical December stole over the senses like the faint odor of violets. Tlie clashing of the sabres, and the steady, monotonous tramp of two hundred horses, did not destroy the influence of the scene. Our .escort moved at a gentle pace, a trot or canter being impracticable for any distance, as we were pioneering our owm road, aud a strong 220 FOT. LOWTXa TTTK P-RUM.' chance of unknown impediments la}^ before lis. A walk, too, seemed more in harmony with the atmosphere and its inilnence. The Indian encampment, witli its " cone-like cabins," at length came in view, and we drew up onr horses before it. A yonng chieftain, abont ten years old, came ont to look at ns. He had a bright copper- colored complexion, and long, straight, black hair. In his hand he held a bow and arrow, quite in the style of " one little Indian boy !" " Picayune ! picaynne !" he showed his know- ledge of the English by calling out — the only word he knew, and he made very free use of it. After receiving one of these coins as an en- couragement to pursue his studies as a linguist, he disappeared ; but soon returned, with his sis- ter, a young squaw, the difference of whose ap- pearance from the other women of the tribe was very striking. She was the most beautiful spe- cimen of humanity that I ever saw, dressed in a wolf-skin blouse, embroidered with beads, her long hair, plaited in a hundred braids, falling around her in ebon masses. Her face was cut F O L T. () ^\' T V a T TT E D P. U M . 221 US if with llie cliisel of a Plildias, tlie nostril, moutli, and cliin a study of beantj — " beautiful disdain" (of which she probably was incapable !) expressed in every delicate curve. Her large, liquid, dreamy eyes, with their heavy lashes, which seemed to require an effort to raise them from her cheek, through which shone a faint red flush that bespoke the Anglo-Saxon blood which rendered her Indian beauty so peerless. When she raised her eyes in their wonderful and dreamy loveliness, they seemed to deluge the spectator with beauty. She went into a tent and soon returned, bringing us an offering of milk and watermelons. A number of young Indians of all sizes and ages, quite "al fres- co," surrounded us, begging for picayunes, which urgent demands soon caused the sup- ply to fail, and the bank to suspend pay- ment. We did not dismount, as we found the r^ort of grass to be w^ithout foundation. Tlie sun may have scorched it up, or it may have been cut for their cattle by the Indians. Whatever the circumstances were, we coidd not find it. 222 F O L L O W I N G THE I) RUM. and as the afternoon was waning, we left the camp and returned homeward. The cabins looked dh-ty inside, and the squaws and children ditto. They could not speak to us, and seemed more frightened than pleased, so that our visit was not as gratifying as 1 had antici- pated. Our ride home I felt to be very perilous. My fears pictured a lurking Camanche in the shadow of each bush ; we however reached home in ignoble safety. Keports of lurking Indians were so rife that my want of valor may be pardoned. Some little time after this visit, one of the warriors of the Carese tribe came down to King- gold Barracks partially on a tour of inspection, and partially, I suppose, to return the courtesies of our call. One of the sentinels on duty for- bade his entrance, on the plea that he had not on a square inch of garment! Tlie aborigine wasi inclined to dispute the point, when the offi- cer of the day appeared, and insinuated, as deli- cately as possible, how much pleasure it would give us to receive him in a little fuller dress ! lie took the hint and departed, appearing a lit- FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 223 tie later in the day, arrayed in the imposing cos- tume of a voluminous white cotton sheet, look- ing like the sail of a schooner at half mast ! , : This delicate tribute to our more fastidious tastes, or (as he might have regarded them) false prejudices, obtained for him an interview, and I had an opportunity to prove that it did not require an educated taste to appreciate French bonbons, with which I regaled him ; for this " red man of the prairies" devoured them all most remorselessly and with evident gusto. I wonder if the noble Hiawatha would have done the same ! I hope not, for the sake of poetic association ! xibont this time the Camanches became very troublesome in the neighborhood ; several dread- ful cases of murder and rapine occurred in our innnediate vicinity. Tlie commanding officer considered it his duty to send off all the officers and most of the men to try and terrify this dar- ing foe. He remained himself at the garrison, with a small number of men, not sufficient to defend it properly, however. I felt very solitary in the nearly deserted camp, entirely alune hi 22-1 FOLLOWING T U E T) R r M . my little liousc. At uiglit I never dared to light a caudle, for fear of giving a better aim to tlie arrow of some rascally savage without. My black esquire used to go off to fandangoes every night, and I was deprived of the companionship of my only protector, old " Jack," a black tan terrier, with the most roguish ears and most " druv in " of tails, by his wild excitement when- ever he heard a drum beat. He slept in my room for two nights, but at reveille he would rouse me by a fit of barking that rendered him intolerable ! I gave him in charge of one of our Sergeants, who professed a very warm attach- ment for him, saying he " loved him better than his own child that he had left in the State of Maine," which triumph over paternal love I rewarded by giving him Jack for his " bun- kie !" Jack used to come and scratch with his yellow foot at the door to get his breakfast every morning, and ask for it with his bright brown eyes and most insinuating tail. On one occasion he almost tore a looking glass down, and had to be put out of the room. The next FOLLOWING THE DHU^f. 225 morning it was rein(.)ved, and wc found a snffi- cien-t excnse for excitement in an enormous tarantula, superintending a brood of young tarantulas wlio had recently come into existence. These are spiders of the size of a small crab, with a venomous sting, from which immediate death ensues. As the Sergeant, who destroyed this nest, remarked, " cannon-balls and lire-arms ain't anything alongside of one of them fellers!" In the day-time, when the sun shone, and the delicious atmosphere tempted me to spend the whole day on the piazza, seated in a hammock, reading or dreaming of what I had read, *' Wandering Uiroiigh tiie quiet laud of thought, Where all was peaceful — " then I felt very brave ; but with the shades of evening an absolute terror would fall on my heart. I would then go into the liouse, and barricade the windows — an unnecessary precau- tion probably, but one that it was impossible to resist. Then sitting in the dark, listening to the howling wolves, thinking at times, when 14 226 F O L L O A\M N G THE 1) K U M. one sounded louder than the rest, that it was the dreaded war-cry of the Camanches — ^I bhish to record that, in spite of all my preconceived valoi', I prepared myself to rush to a pantry, where I had determined to lock myself in. The agony of terror endured during this period was such as to destroy alh claims of ever being looked npon as anything approaching a heroine. jSTearly two weeks passed thus when the scout- ing party returned. The Indians had fled in alarm before them, and for the time our pros- pects of undisturbed peacefulness were en couraging. FULI.OWIXG THE DRUM. 227 CHAPTEE XX. CAMP LIFE. Garrison life, in tlie phase that I saw it, was very pleasant. Each hour was marked by some peculiar military signal At daybreak " reveille " sounded musically on the drowsy ear; then came the " sick call," especially agreeable to ''Old Soldiers /" Then the dulcet airs of " peas upon a trencher," or "roast beef," summoned the soldier with fife and drum, to his frugal repast of '''junk" and hard bread. Guard- rjiounting, morning and evening drill, parade, and finally tattoo, systematically divided the day, without rendering it monotonous. Each ofiicer took his turn in superintending the details of garrison duties. " The ofificer of the d^y " visited each sentinel, at daybreak, at sunset, and again at midnight, besides a noon- day tour of mo-e ,min\ite ijUspection. .illJ C/i^ll^l 228 F L L O W T N G T K K T> R U :\t . The strict discipline and subordination in wliicli the men in the ranks are kept bj their officers is truly wonderful to a civilian, used to dealing with that indej)endent race of subalterns who are legally entitled to " give warning," if displeased by any trifling restriction ! The courts-martial, which meet every month, are very severe in the punishment of disrespect, drunkenness, or any other of the amiable weak- nesses to which the rank and file are prone. One delinquent was sentenced to wear a '' bar- rel jacket" every day for a week. It consisted of an old flour barrel with a hole cut for his head to pass through, and a pair of holes for his arms. This was a i*eward for a chronic tendency to "spree," which somewhat interfered with the strict performance of his military duties. Tlie men were drilling constantly under the supervision of the Sergeants ; the officers drilled them only once a day. Cavalry drill was my especial delight. The officer and his jet black blood horse seemed one object, so perfectly did the motions of the horse and rider move in uni- son, cither heading a frantic charge, or with his FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 220 platoon prancing gracefully forward, and then with an unexpected manoeuvre turning swifily on the imaginary foe. The soldiers of our p-arrison beloni^ed to that horse marine class "mounted infantry," so that drilling them into dragoons was by no means an easy or pleasant task. Without a knowledge of even the first principles of riding, they sat on their horses like a j)arcel of clothes-pins, and it was not an unusual thing to see a dozen dis- mounted at once, and lie sprawling on the ground ; they were instantly up, however, and in their saddles to try it once more. In spite of their mishaps, they seemed to enjoy it very much, and after a few months' perseverance became cpiite a presentable cavalry company. " Swearing like a trooper" is a very graphic expression, for if the most sanctified divine, knowing the beauties of a well performed cavalry manoeuvre, were called upon to perform the task of drilling raw men to the duty, he would have committed this ungentlemanly sin almost spontaneously. This course of mounting^ the foot remments 2'^jO F O L L O W I X G THE D R U M . was adopted to increase oar resources in sending oiit scouting parties after tlie Indians, who at certain seasons were very troublesome and dangerous. These scouting parties, wlien equipped to start on their perilous but exciting adventures, presented a very spirited picture. The officer was generally dressed in a dragoon fatigue jacket, with gold shoulder straps and buttons, a broad brimmed slouched sombrero, and a pair of boots with sheaths of leather to the waist, to protect him from the underbrusli through which he was forced to ride a great ])art of the way. A belt full of pistols, a Bword buckled to the side, and a six-shooting rifle, composed his supply of firearms. A pow- der-flask hanging from the belt, and a canteen of water, with saddle-bags of limited size and capacity, held all the stores that he could take with him for a week. The shirts worn on these occasions would pro- duce a nervous shock on the sensitive nerves of a certain class of petits maitres, whose ideas are confined to the fine linen and delicate cambric of a chemisiere a la mode. Tliey are composed FOLLOW IN a T IT K DRUM. 2?.l <>1 a dark blue check material, warranted to last ii tlu'^ Riu Grandt al)0^/e Iviiiggold Barracks). It consisted of two officers, about fifty men, and the Indian guide, the former both boys in years. They started out with the usual equip- ments, and on the second day after followicg an Indian trail, came to a point where it suddenly disappeared, and no traces of it could be disco- vered. The guide, with all his practised keenness, was at a loss which direction to take, and it was finally decided that they should separate and go in different directions. They drew lots for the guide, who remained with Lieutenant Y., while Lieutenant H. took an opposite direction. They bade each other a gay and friendly farewell, with expectations of meeting again in another week at the garrison at Laredo, each boasting of the scalps and trophies they would show on their return. Harry Love, the guide, who remained with the former party, was a character whom it is worth a slight digression to describe. Lie was originall}' from Yermont, and by his frankness followinTt the drum. 233 pjid fearlessness in a measure redeemed his jiative State in my somewhat prejudiced eyes. His physique was that of a real " Green Moun- tain Boy," six feet three, and stalwart and robust in proportion, as bold and intrepid as a lion, with a voice of thunder, and a mild blue eye, which softened the otherwise fierce aspect of his rough, sun-burnt face, which was half con- cealed by a flowing beai'd and heav}^ moustache. When a mere boy, he became disgusted with the restraints of home, especially the petty ty- ranny of a step-mother, and by a midnight flight sundered for ever these galling domestic ties. At a seaboard town, he sought and obtained a situation as cabin-boy on a vessel bound for the West Indies. When fairly out at sea, he discovered that he formed part of a bucanier crew, whose exploits on the Spanish Main he would only allude to vaguely in after years. Over all attempts to trace his career through the vicissitudes incident upon this piratical life he studiously threw the veil of taciturnity. At the opening of the war with Mexico, he found himself occupying tlie uninteresting yet 234 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. liuTiitive position of a stevedore at Mobile in Alabama. The news of the critical position of General Taylor, at Fort Brown, which alarmed for a mo- ment the whole coimtrj, created along the southern seaboard the wildest excitement. Vo- lunteers were not wanting, and prominent among them was Harry Love. The morning after the receipt of the news, he with a hundred others set sail for the Rio Grande, to the rescue of their brave countrymen. But the old hero had fought his way through Mexican bayonets before they arrived, and Harry returned to Mo- bile, to fulfil a long cherished wish of his heart. As has been before remarked, " alas for human constancy !" he found that the fair object of his love had proved false during his absence, and bestowed herself on a less patriotic admirer ! . Harry, in a fit of misanthropic disgust, return- ed to the army, and throughout the war perform- ed the most reckless feats of bravery. He never became entirely cured of his disgippointment, which seemed to have taken a hold on his heart that neither time nor the instio:ations of common F O L T. O W T X G THE D E U M . 2^>r) sense could entirely eradicate. Many a bright- moonlight night, on a scout, he would lie on the grass, and discuss the charms of this delusive syren. It might have seemed weakness had he not been such a brave, manly fellow, with a mind full of native talent, deeply imbued with a noble sense of honor, learned from no other code but the instincts of his own uneducated and gene- rous nature. Harry became quite an adept in Indian scout- ing while in Texas, and frequently accompaniad parties of government troops. On these exped^ tions he seemed to know the trail almost intui- tively. A crushed blade of grass, or some other slight signal, led him on their track for miles, until some unmistakable token of their recent presence proved that his conjectures had not been without good fomidations. On the occa- sion of the scout to which I now allude, the trail had been lost for several days, and it seemed almost impossible to find any trace of it. The men had shown symptoms of insubordination for some weeks bef )re starting from camp, and 23(3 FOLLOWING TnE DTIUM. a few liours after tlie officers had divided forces it was discovered that they were commencing to exhibit signs of intoxication. Their canteens were examined, and fonnd to contain whiskey instead of water, which had been surreptitiously introduced after inspection previous to starting. Summary measures had to be immediately taken. There was no time to pause in the midst of a lonely prairie, with the Camanche foe lurk- ing near, and only a band of half intoxicated men to oppose them. They did not dare to dis- obey the order to empty their canteens, although no promptness was shown, and it was done with muttered curses and murmurs of disapproval. One man, more bold and intoxicated than the rest, refused, and showed such flagrant symptoms of disrespect and disobedience, that very prompt measures were called for. So he was seized by order of the officer by his sullen and unwilling companions and tied with a rope to his horse, who dragged him so for nearly a mile. This sobered the rest almost instantly, and they rode forward, knowing they had no alternative but strict observance of their duties. The ropo FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 287 finally broke, and the man was soon lost to the view of his companions. He eventually reco- vered from the effect of his whiskey and bruises, and found his way back on foot, telling some of his messmates, with great gusto, what a sight it was to see his lieutenant, when he got his pluck up ! This event, instead of producing dislike on the soldiers' part, seemed to add to their respect. The uneducated mind unconsciously and innately yields to mental sway, where deci- sion and firmness combine to force their will, and *' private Jackson " after this was always a model specimen of military discipline. !N"o other course but sacrificing the chances of life in one of them could have been pursued under the cir- cnmstances. There was no alternative for the preservation of the rest ; prompt and decided measures were absolutely requisite. The morning after these occurrences, the party came in sight of the enoftmpment of the Indians, at a distance of several miles. With a wild shout, the men put spurs to their horses, and dashed over the prairie, with the speed of the wind. As they neared the camp their excite- 288 F O I. L O W I N G T HE D II L^ U . inent increased, for the Indians, so suddenly sur- prised, abandoning their wigwams, horses, and everything, scattered in all directions, seek- ing safety in the densely tangled cliapparal. The soldiers followed them into the thicket, tearing their flesh and their garments at every step ; horses and riders were pierced and bleeding from tlie thorns, which the Indians saved them- selves from by crawling on the gromid like snakes. It was imj)0ssible to trace or follow them, as the horses, maddened with pain, refused to further breast the thorns. Some trophies were secured from the camp, consisting of robes, headrdresses, ponchos, &c., and the pursuit con- tinued by skirting the cliapparal. On the following day the guide struck the trail of the retreating Indians, and, as it was very fresh, the party had strong hopes of soon overtak- ing them on the open p^*airie, where they could make up for the disappointment of the day before. About noon some figures in the far dis- tance revived the excitement of the men, when, on nearing the expected foe, they discovered that F O L L O W I X (I THE D R U M 23^ it was Lieutenant H.'s pai-ty. But what a siglit met their view ! Tlie ground was strewn with dying men, and Lieutenant H., pierced with ^ve arrows, was lying under the shelter of a lov/ bush, in the last agonies of death. Tlie story was soon told. The Indians who had left their encampment pursued by the U. S. soldiers, had met with a mounted party of their tribe whom they had joined-, and thinking only of the party in pursuit had neglected the usual precautions, and came suddenly upon the party of Lieutenant H. The fight was brief but desperate. In the midst of it. Lieutenant H. pointed his revol- ver at one of them, who immediately com- menced to cry and shed tears copiously, thus betraying her to be a squaw,which from her dress and weather-beaten old face he would never have imagined. His innate ^ense of gallantry revolted at fighting even with a woman wa^'rior, and he lowered his pistol. She seized on this advantage, suddenly veered her horse (which she rode astride) to his rear, and treacherously pierced him through Avith a poisoned spear. They said that he fell without a struggle. His 240 F O L L O \V 1 N G THE DRUM infuriated soldiers, led on by the Sergeant, who immediately took command, paid them in bloodshed for the loss they had sustained by killing eight of their party, the old heathen matron among them crying and screaming to the last over her mortal wonnds! This is but one of the tragic deeds which History does not record and Fame does not trumpet, that are annually occurring on our frontier. FOLLOwrxa thk drum. :> 4 1 CHAPTEK XXL TEXAS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. " Even now we hear with inward strife A motion toiling in the gloom — The Spirit of the years to come Yearning to mix himself with Life. "A slow developed strength awaits Completion in a painful school; Phantoms of other forms of rule, New Majesties of mighty States." Tennyso7i. Probably no one portion of our nnion presents so many interesting featnres, or so wide a field tV)r physical researches, as that embraced within the limits of Texas, containing as it does in wide- spread developments the three great leaves upon which nature has recorded the history of the material world. 'No less extensive is the field 242 F o T. T, o \y T X a t u k d r r M . whicli her history nil'ern to the coiitemplatioii of the political ecoiioinist. The early missions o£ the Spaniards, to which allusion has already been made, and wliicli were the first attempts to settle the State, were eiFec- tnally suppressed by the failure of the crops and the incursions of the savages. In the year 1714, the Spanish government becoming alarmed on hearing of the arrival in Mexico of an adventu- rous Canadian, who had crossed through Texas for the j)urpose of opening commercial relations with that country, and fearing that this portion of their possessions would fall into the hands of the French, decided that the only course to pre- vent it would be to renew their missions. They therefore established a chain of posts fi-om Florida to New Mexico, which soon acquired a permanent footing. The ruins of some of these still exist, the crumbling towers, arched roofs and dilapidated walls, indicating a not unpretend- ing style of architecture. Some of these ruins are used for government stables, others are un- occupied save by the owl and the bat. The establishment of these missions seemed FOLLOWTXG T U V. T) V. U ^l . 2i3 seciirel}^ to fix civilization in Texas. TIig Spanish government was extended and ac- knov^ledged tlirongliont tlie settlements, soldiers were stationed at the missions, and the work of converting and civilizing the Indians proceeded unchecked%r a long period of time. Towards the close of the eighteenth century, the Anglo-Saxon pioneers began to find their way to these little colonies. They w^ere soon folio w^ed by others, and in 1812 their num- bers having been largely augmented by the remnant of the notorious expedition organized by Aaron Burr, a short-lived and unsuccessful revolution was formed against the arbitrary government of Spain. Shortly after this, Mexi- co revolted against the authority of Spain, and after a short struggle established her in- dependence. From that time to the present, the history of that country has been one con- tinued series of revolutions and counter-revo- lutions; every page of her annals disfigured with the blood of men who had at one time or other possessed the full confidence of the people. 2-1- 1 .F G T. L O W I X G T H K I > T^ l' M . It was not in tlie nature v^ tiling's tliat Texas o » in which tlie Anglo-Saxon blood now predoini nated, should submit to the arbitrary laws and exactions of this fickle and miserable race. The dissolution of their connexion was the natural consequence of tyranny tJn the one side and manly resistance on the other. The struggle for independence was a severe one, and it was not until the best blood of the pioneers was shed that she proved her capacity for resistance. The names of "Davie Crock- ett" and " Bowie," whose chivalrous deeds and desperate daring have even now the semblance of fabled story, are engraved on the stones of the Alamo, w^hich will always be regarded by the Texan as a new Thermopylae. On the 3d of March, 1837, the independence of Texas as a nation was acknowledged by the United States, and two years after by France and England. But the maintenance of a separate existence among nations required greater exertions than the infant colonists possessed. Besides, they had not fought for power, but for freedom ; this FOl>L()VriNG THE DliUM. 215 once attained, their tliouglits reverted to the })rosperous land from whence their adventnrons steps had bronght them. It was their birth- place, the homes of their brothers, and contained the graves of their fathers. An irresistible impulse led them to seek admission into the Union. This was accomplished in the year 1844. Hazardous as was the experiment to us, the sequel has proved that this political exotic, transplanted from tlie enervating and sickly soil of Mexico, 'has, under the genial influence of our institutions, grown into a vigorous and hardy plant. Texas is a State of enormous area, being six hundred miles from east to west, and four hun- dred from north to south, containing nearly two hundred and fifty thousand square miles, as large as the New England and Middle States com- bined. It contains a population of three hun dred thousand inhabitants exclusive of Indians. The greater portion of the settlers are from the older States ; of the foreigners a large praportiou are Germans. 216 FOL LOWING THE D R U :\r. The inaiu object of emigration of course la agricnltiire. The most remarkable physical fea- tm*e of the State is the extraordinary nnmber and extent of the rivers, having a total length exceed- ing ten thousand miles, which with their thousand tributaries penetrate to almost every part, causing the soil under the hand of the husbandman to yield abundant harvests. The wild luxuriant growth of the forest trees, along these river banks, have by their overhanging branches, and by falling into the bed of the stream, forming natural rafts, prevented extensive navigation. The valleys of these rivers will in a short time yield the great bulk of the cotton and sugar of this country. Considering her comparative infancy, Texas stands among the slave-holding states unrivalled in cultivation and production, in energy and en- terprise, in intelligence and morality. Any at- tempt to estimate her future mfist fall short of reality. It is impossible to comprehend the full force of a silent, progressive, and wide-spread emigration. The tread of armies may be real- ized — they move in mabs>es, and appeal to the F '■■) ]. ]. O \V 1 X G T i! E I) K U M . 217 senses ; but millions passing individually, are unperceived, until by a united action they make themselves known and felt. Thus it is with Texas. It is only in the light of history that the effects of its annexation can be fully comprehended, coupled as it is with the history of the Mexican war, and the discovery of gold in California. It is only in the light of history that we shall be able to read the now silent workings of a new and pe- culiar phase of civilization. Yet there is no doubt that were the rest of the Union to pass from existence, there would yet be left, w^ithin the limits of Texas, the elements of a magnifi- cent empire. • Land of the future, which a faith sublime Fills with rich increase, Hail ! though conquered time Not yet for thee has harvested the Past, Thy seed through far horizons now is cast, And grander spaces open for thy hand : Thy skies are blue, and green thy fruitful land. Ages shall pass before thy youth shall see Fulfilled the promise of thine infancy." De Trobriand, 21H F O L T. O ^V 1 X G T H ;., j) j^^ aj CHAPTER XXll. THE LAST TAP OF THE DRUM. Our residence on the frontier was now about to terminate. Orders had arrived from the Head Quarters of the Division, at San Antonio de Bexar, for the troops, at E-inggold Barracks to proceed to the north-western portion of the State, live hundred miles into the Indian country. They were to thread tlieir way through a hitherto unexplored region of country, and if they escaped from exposure and the savage foe, to make an encampment on some carefully selected spot, where a stream of water, and per- haps a clump of trees, would supply the neces- sary requirements for a new military post. Hu- mors of beautiful forest glades, salmon streams, countless herds of buffalo and deer, and a iine, salubrious climate, were dwelt upon in such pleasant anticipations, that the perils and dis- FOLLOWING THE 1) R U M . 249 comforts of the march were lost sight of. Lesa food, and fewer of the bare necessities of life than we had at Einggold Barracks, we knew would be inevitable; but "where glorj leads the way" a soldier seldom hesitates, although in the more sober paths of duty he may not always be found "madly rushing on!" The prospects were, that we should live in tents for two years, before which time quarters could not be built. The 'soldiers were to hew the trees and build log cabins, nails and carpenters' tools being all the aid that Uncle Sam furnished to- wards this object. I anticipated the trip, as an additional phase in a sort of gipsy existence, with great pleasure, as by this time I had almost succeeded in for- getting the luxuries and necessities of civilized life. A piece of hard bread and a glass of luke- warm water (strained through a rag) could not be called a banquet, yet was not an unusual meal to me. I became quite out of the habit of having any regular dinner at one period, and made up my mind to regard it as a mere unnecessary cere- mony ! Our arrangements for the march, how- 250 FOLLOWING THE T> R U l\r . ever, were abruptly broken in upon, as far as we were concerned, by the arrival of an unexpected leave of absence from the commander-in-chief, and in a few da^^s the more civilized metropolis became the goal of our journey, instead of the wilds of 'New Mexico. I left Ringgold Barracks with as nmch pain as pleasure, feeling that had my lot been cast there, it had not been an utterly cheerless one. The climate was delicious, the life neither tame nor monotonous. I left behind me warm hearts, and brought with me sweet memories, and new and enlarged views of life as it really is, robbed of conventionalities. The people by whom I had been surrounded, though bold, reckless, and perhaps rough in their exterior, had exhibited a standard of honor and true refinement more elevated than that generally acknowledged by the world, and divested of all false gloss. Our sail down the Rio Grande was the repe- tition of the voyage up. "We passed through Brownsville hurriedly during the night, and drove by moonlight to Brazos Island, resting again at the wayside hut. The night was beautiful, the FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 251 full moon Castillo- an efFiiJo-ence of lii-iil lliat O O o seemed almost like day, producing that exqui- site effect on natm-e, half of beauty, and half of mystery, so unlike the glare of sunlight. I was almost too weary and sick to enjoy it, for although my Texas campaign might have been invigorating to the mind, it certainly had not been so physically. At morning's dawn wq went on board the steamer, and in a few hours set sail for 'New Orleans. I was deplorably sick during the voyage ; in consequence of which, after arriving in New Orleans, we remained there nearly a fortnight to recruit. We were to return to New York by the inland route, and secured rooms on one of the Mississi^^pi river steam boats as far as Louisville. It was a magnificent vessel, far too beautiful for the vulgar herd that thronged it. My state-room was quite a la petite maitresse, with a toilet table trimmed with lace, and pink and gold china — I believe the state-room par excellence of the boat. I spent most of the week that we were on board '*• The Magnolia.'' on deck, enjoying the sublim- li.jii F U L L O Vri N G THE DRUM. ity of this niiglitj and glorious river, inusii g promimucmsly on — " The beautiful, the grand, The glorious of my native land." Visions of Father Marquette and Ferdinand de Soto often crossed my mind, as we passed over the dark waters that centuries ago were first traversed by them, and my eyes were fed on the same gorgeous scenery that at every turn in the river met their view. Sublimity, vastness, and grandeur are the chief impressions produced by this peerless and mighty flow of waters. At times when nearing one shore, the oppo- site banks would seem miles away in the dis- tance. Occasional bluffs and broad spread valleys, with towns, villages, and settlements in incredible numbers distributed along, gave food for many reflections on political economy, and philosophy generally. The rush of commerce on these western waters seems almost a miracle, so short a time ago the skiff of the aborigines or the breath of Heaven alone disturbed theiJ" repose, while now F O L L O W 1 X G T PI E D R U M . 2^6 tliej are hourly plied by steamers freighted with Immanity, urged on by an unthought of power to emigrate to the unexplored and beautiful regions to which they are hurrying — some in quest of wealth, some of excitement, others of a new home. Enterprise — avarice — adventure — so are our human passions ordained to fulfil the destiny of the univei'se ! It is rather common-place to ex- patiate and wonder at the strength, energ}^, and vigor of that young giant " Sam," with his many foibles, and his many noble traits — the impetuosity of his Creole blood contending with the caution he has inherited from his Pil- grim Fathers, the stolidity of his burgomaster an- cestors, and the poetical sublimity of his Indian progenitors; the chivalry derived from some scion of a noble house mixed with the demo- cracy of the plodding sons of toil, and dashes of religious enthusiasm with occasional touches of patriotism. What wonder that he should be such an ano- malous character, with such an anomalous com- bination of antecedents ! 254 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. To be sure liis shoes are lioLnailed ! and he may be seen at noon-day in a dress-coat with brass buttons ! while bathing he does not regard as the end and aim of man's fleeting existence ! But he is a hard-working man, and as yet has had but little time for trifling outward adornments. His ambition is insatiable, and like a young Hercules he is manfully fighting in the vanguard of the progress of humanity. Calling upon Europe to disgorge her slaving peasantry, and to ship them over where they may be illu- mined by the divine light of Knowledge in his happy land ! at the same time nobly standing by the principle that •' Cufiy" was especially provided by heaven as an exception to prove the rule, that all men were born free and equal, and to hoe his rice and cotton fields ! The dense forests that for miles at a time line the banks of the Mississippi are one of its pecu- liar features, and seem to date back to the time when "God created all green things." ^o words can describe their luxuriance and wealth of form and foliage ; the rough woodman, in his clearings, has frequently left a single tree F L T. O W I N G THE T) R U ^1 . 255 standing bj itself in its Led of rich emerald sward stretcliing out its beautiful arms, in so voluminous a green shelter, that it seemed to ask tliat a homestead might be reared under its pro- tecting shade. I used to sit for hours, fascinated with all this novelty and beauty — when "the sunset lay before us like a dream," — when the sun first rose in the dewy freshness of early day, and when nature was bathed in the silver light of the moon's rays. Our party of fellow travellers in the first cabin were very amusing. An actor who resem- bled the description of that most fascinating bm-glar, Paul Clifford prior to his reformation, with a romantic air and a turned down collar. A bride of forty summers (or rather winters), with her second husband, gave me most intense pleasure. She used to relate anecdotes of " her dear old first," whom she represented as " a nice old gentleman," a little touchy to be sure ; but that was natural at his age. She loved to dwell on the happiness slie had enjoyed when daily combing his scanty grey locks from the rear, Bhe tied them on the top of his shiny and vene- 25(1 F O T. I- AV T X a T II E I) R V M . rable Load with a black ribbon ; and slie would feelingly dilate on tlie agony of mind slie endur- ed wlien performing this task of love for the last time on his inanimate clay. A month afterwards she married her " dear Joshua," a tall, slim, cadaverous-looking person, with whom she said she was enjoying her ^'honeymoon number two." This vulgar insti- tution of iioiu'vinooiis was iiitcMuled for this class of people, I am sure ! Joshua (she said) was not as touchy as '^ dear old number one" on most subjects; but he .adored her, and was jealous — unhappy female ! She was fat and fair as well as fort}^, and w^ore an inexhaustible amount of jet finery (tokens of her recent loss of dear old number one). Paul Cli.iFord had a professional eye for scenic effect, and led on by encouraging glances from this bereaved bride, he gazed at her thea- trically for hours to the great agony of Joshua^ who made his jealousy very evident, and vented it in private on the partner of his bosom. If Joshua had a weakness, it was for a reckless F O L L O W 1 N G T H E V R U II . 257 display in dress ! Frogs were his ideal of rich- ness and elegance, and Count d'Orsay never felt more satisfied with the success of his toilet, than did this simple-minded man, when he issued from his state-room with a coat literalh^ embossed with frogs and braiding. He said he had been married in it, and that it was called " an Italian boulevard," after a place in France ! The widow used to wear emeralds in her hair to dinner, and between them they kept up such a degree of elegance and good taste, that it al- most supplied these deficiencies in the remaining brown linen passengers. Some months after this I met Joshua in Broadway, and, yielding to an irresistible impulse, stopped to ask him after his wife. "With a look in which he strove to embody as much lachrymose distress of mind as possible, he said ''I am sorry, ma'am, to say that Mi's. Joshua is dead!'^ ''All that's bright must fade," etc. etc ! There was a Baptist clergyman on board, who was at the same ttme a ranting abolitionist. He went on shore at one of the landings, and finding a cluster of small, lightly-clad negri>es looking on 16 2o6 F O L L W I N G T H E D K U M . at the unloading of some goods, he addrtrised them in pathetic language — " Oh, misei able children ! don't you feel the manacles of slavery on your limbs?" One small, bright-looldng darky, looking at another, said, " No, I don't^ does you, Zip ?" To which Zip replied in the Jiega- tive with a shout of negro laughter, accompanied by a series of gymnastic evolutions, from his profiei.Hcy in which he had acquired his sobri- quet of Zip Coon. The plulanthroj^ist was quite nonplussed, but afterwards . remarked it was fearful to see human souls so blind to their own wretchedness as to be able to dance and sing in a state of such deplorable bondage ! Some Californians returning to their northeiii homes, and other less conspicuous passengers, completed our party. On the deck below there a different class of people, and the scene there was at all times animated. A large party of flat-boat men, wdio had been to New Orleans with their lumber, were returning with us up the river, earning their passage by assisting in taking in fire-wood and freight at the different landings. Some were Mississippi Hiver men, and F O L L OWING T H E D R U ^,1 259 others from the Oliio and Wabash, a great deal of party spirit was occasionally exhibited among them. One evening at quite a late hour we stopped to take wood at a rough wharf near one of the clear- ings. The doors of the furnaces were opened, which threw a deep red glow on the shore ; pine faggots were lighted on the bank, and the deck hands and deck passengers were formed into gangs to carry the wood on board. The "Wabash River men commenced singing an exulting air with each verse ending "the gallant Wabash boys." This was emphatically groaned at by the others. At the end of it, one of the oppo- sition set up the well-known air of "sailing down the river of the Ohio;" at this the Mis- sissippi River men renewed their dismal groans, and finally followed a terrific row, which it is im- possible for me to describe. The whole scene was one peculiar to this river. The fiery glow cast from the furnaces on the shore lighted up these wild looking figures, as they worked at their task, and shouted their excited strains. Tlie dense gloomy forests that backed 260 F O L L ^V I N G THE DRUM. the clearing suggested to the mind the vast m> broken depths of solitude that lay enshrined within their precincts. Where "The growths of jasmme turned Their humid arms, festooning tree to tree, And at the root, through kish green grasses, burned The red anemone." The evening star shone out in its j^ale dim beauty, while over all the shades of night were falling. At Natchez " under the hill" we took OH board a most suspicious-looking set, soon dis- covered to be a gang of blacklegs of the deepest dye, who finding they were regarded with suspi- cion left the boat at the next landing above. At all times of day and night we would be startled by a hard bump, and the general cry of "a snag" would resound. These fallen trees are shifted by each tide, and it is impossible to steer clear of them. Their great roots lie embed- ded in the bed of the river, and their trunks pointing directly down the stream have too often caused the most disastrous wrecks and loss of life. Between these and the reckless racing FOLLOWING THE DRUM. 261 of the high pressure steamboats, a sail on the Mis- sissippi becomes a rather perilous adventure. The flat-boat men, on their way clown the river, used to amuse me very much. They were a jolly set of reckless fellows, who seemed to think that after their boat is built, launched, and loaded, they have nothing to do but to en- joy to the utmost extent the trip to New Orleans. A fiddle and a banjo generally ac- company them, and these combined with their vocal choruses principally of negro minstrelsy, floated over the waters in delightful harmony. They cook their food on deck, and form quite a picturesque group as they sit around the boiling pot from which each helps himself. When they arrive at their destination the flat- boat is knocked to pieces, the planks which compose it sold with the cargo, and the crew work their way homeward, on some of the steamers. After a week's sail we reached the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi, and in two days more the "Magnolia" deposited us at Louisville, Kentucky. From there we continued up the 262 FOLLOWING THE DRUM. Ohio to CinciDiiati, and returned, via Lake Erie. Buffalo, and Albany, to New York. Here ended my brief campaign, and with it ended a chapter in a life's history only interest- ing perhaps to a few friends, whose thoughts accompanied me to the frontier. A soldier re- quires a buoyant disposition and a philosophical turn of mind more than most men, and if this can be arrived at, there is much that is attrac- tive in his careless, semi-civilized existence. In retrospect all the discomforts of that wan- dering life are forgotten, and so truly does " al- chymist memory turn the paspt to gold" that I find "The past is very tender at my heart," and I can now only recal bright and glowing recollections of the days of following the drum. " Sounds that once so charmed my ear I no longer now can hear ; They are all an empty hum, For the drum I Oh, the dram I" THE END. \ m ■nil LIBRARY OF HUMOBOUUMERicA^ ^P^ WITH JLLrSTKATIO^SBY t>ARLEY. _-^ T. B. PETT.F1JSOX & BK OTHERS. WAJOR JONES'S COURTSHIP. DRAMA IN POKERVILLE. THE CONSCRIPT. CHARCOAL SKETCHES. MISFORTUNES OF PETER FA8ER. MAJOR JONES'S SKETCHES OF TRAVEL. YANKEE AMONGST THE MERMAIDS. STREAKS OF SQUATTER LIFE. QUARTER RACE IN KENTUCKY. SIMON SUGGS. CHARMS OF PARIS. THE RIVAL BELLES. YANKEE YARNS AND YANKEE LETTERS. ADVENTURES OF COL. VANDERBOMB. BIG BEAR OF ARKANSAS. ADVENTURES OF PERCIVAL MABERRY. THE QUORNDON HOUNDS. MY SHOOTING BOX. MAJOR JONES'S CHROINICLES OF PINEVILLE. STRAY SUBJECTS ARRESTED AND BOUND OVER. DEER STALKERS. ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN FARRAGO. PICKINGS FROM THE PICAYUNE. MAJOR O'RECAN'S ADVENTURES. PETER PLODDY. FOLLOWING THE DRUM. WIDOW rugby's HUSBAND. S0L.'SMITH8 THEATRICAL APPRENTICESHIP. SOL. SMITH'S THEATRICAL JOURNEY WORK. POLLy PEABLOSSOM'S WEDDING. WARWICK WOODLANDS. LOUISIANA SWAMP DOCTOR. AUNT PATTY'S SCRAP BAG. NEW ORLEANS SKETCH BOO^. PRICE 50 CEJrrS JBACH. ^-3^?x>^va'>fa5^^ic^^ .;^"KM-y' UJ uvv/^, ^'^yw^#s::?^ rm^i^ ^^^wwvv^:u:,,io^^. VJ- V .WW-- /V^'^' jV^-/,wV^U '^:^,^jm:.j-t^:^.j iV,:-^'^^^^ V^.«, VWV^'VV ie>^^^ <^J^W^ -*ay dijp^i. :r-"fs**v/^^^ .-'^ 'a't*'*^,.>fiiiiK ^'^z^^sjT.^^'^^m -vvy^v '^v v^w^v/y- ':V ««,:,. WW w';,:^uM^vvv^vM.> m^u^m:^^ ,,,^.. -VJV *'^'^*k ^^W^&&^5^; ;^^..S'^^ -vv--:^^ '^#*fev' ^^^,v',j vvy VV-uV.A-:^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 646 927 9 mm' '•V^^