rcely at a calf ten feet from him;
on seeing us, he attempted to rise, but, utterly helpless, he bent his
body so as to form a circle, concealing his head upon his breast under
his huge paws, and uttered a low growl, half menacing, half plaintive
Had we had powder to waste, we would certainly have rid the gramnivorous
from many of their carnivorous neighbours, but we were now entering a
tract of country celebrated for the depredations of the Texans and
Buggles free bands, and every charge of powder thrown away was a chance
the less, in case of a fight
As by this time our horses were in want of rest, we took off their
saddles, and the poor things feasted better than they had done for a
long while As for us, we had fortunately still a good supply of the
cold calf, for we felt a repugnance to cut the throats of any of the
poor broken-down creatures before us Close to us there was a fine
noble stag, for which I immediately took a fancy He was so worn out
that he could not even move a few inches to get at the grass, and his
dried, parched tongue showed plainly how much he suffered from the want
of water I pulled up two or three handfuls of clover, which I presented
to him; but though he tried to swallow it, he could not
As there was a water-hole some twenty yards off, I took the doctor's fur
cap, and filling it with water, returned to the stag What an expressive
glance! What beautiful eyes! I sprinkled at first some drops upon his
tongue, and then, putting the water under his nose, he soon drained it
up My companions became so much interested with the sufferings of the
poor animals, that they took as many of the young fawns as they could,
carrying them to the edge of the water-hole, that they might regain
their strength and fly away before the wolves could attack them
Upon my presenting a second capful of water to the stag, the grateful
animal licked my hands, and, after having drunk, tried to rise to follow
me, but its strength failing, its glances followed me as I was walking
to and fro; they spoke volumes; I could understand their meaning I hate
to hear of the superiority of man! Man is ungrateful as a viper, while a
horse, a dog, and many others of the "soulless brutes," will never
forget a kindness
I wondered what had become of our three lawyers, who had wandered away
without their rifles, and had been more than two hours absent I was
about to propose a search after them when they arrived, with their
knives and tomahawks, and their clothes all smeared with blood They had
gone upon a cruise against the wolves, and had killed the brutes until
they were tired and had no more strength to use their arms
The reader, comfortably seated in his elbow-chair, cannot comprehend the
hatred which a prairie traveller nourishes against the wolves As soon
as we found out what these three champions of the wilderness had been
about, we resolved to encamp there for the night, that we might destroy
as many as we could of these prairie sharks Broken-down as they were,
there was no danger attending the expedition, and, tightening on our
belts, and securing our pistols, in case of an attack from a recovering
panther, we started upon our butchering expedition On our way we met
with some fierce-looking jaguars, which we did not think it prudent to
attack, so we let them alone, and soon found occupation enough for our
knives and tomahawks among a close-packed herd of wolves
How many of these detested brutes we killed I cannot say, but we did not
leave off until our hands had become powerless from exhaustion, and our
tomahawks were so blunted as to be rendered of no use When we left the
scene of massacre, we had to pass over a pool of blood ankle-deep, and
such was the howling of those who were not quite dead, that the deer and
elk were in every direction struggling to rise and fly[26] We had been
employed more than four hours in our work of destruction, when we
returned to the camp, tired and hungry Roche had picked up a bear-cub,
which the doctor skinned and cooked for us while we were taking our
round to see how our _proteges_ were going on All those that had been
brought up to the water-hole were so far recovered that they were
grazing about, and bounded away as soon as we attempted to near them My
stag was grazing also, but he allowed me to caress him, just as if we
had been old friends, and he never left the place until the next
morning, when we ourselves started
[Footnote 26 The prairie wolf is a very different animal from the
common wolf and will be understood by the reader when I give a
description of the animals found in California and Texas]
The doctor called us for our evening meal, to which we did honour, for,
in addition to his wonderful culinary talents, he knew some plants,
common in the prairies, which can impart even to a bear's chop a most
savoury and aromatic flavour He was in high glee, as we praised his
skill, and so excited did he become, that he gave up his proposal of the
"Gold, Emerald, Topaz, Sapphire, and Amethyst Association, in ten
thousand shares," and vowed he would cast away his lancet and turn cook
in the service of some _bon vivant_, or go to feed the padres of a
Mexican convent He boasted that he could cook the toughest old woman,
so as to make the flesh appear as white, soft, and sweet as that of a
spring chicken; but upon my proposing to send him, as a _cordon bleu_,
to the Cayugas, in West Texas, or among the Club Indians, of the
Colorado of the West, he changed his mind again, and formed new plans
for the regeneration of the natives of America
After our supper, we rode our horses to the lake, to water and bathe
them, which duty being performed, we sought that repose which we were
doomed not to enjoy; for we had scarcely shut our eyes when a tremendous
shower fell upon us, and in a few minutes we were drenched to the skin
The reader may recollect that, excepting Gabriel, we had all of us left
our blankets on the spot wh