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me an indubitable proof of his Lizzy's powers, for she followed close at Czar's tail during the entire hunt. Mr. Kreger assisted me in making the lassos. The hide is fastened tight on the ground with wooden pegs, a very sharp knife is thrust into the centre, and a strip about the breadth of a finger is cut, until the whole hide is transferred into one very long line, which, though not so long as the one with which Dido measured the ground to build Carthage ou, attained a very great length. This strip was then fastened between trees, the hair shaved off with a knife, after which it was cut into five equal lengths, and these were plaited into a lasso about forty feet long, which was once more fastened between trees, with heavy weights attached to it, and thus stretched to its fullest extent. When such a line has been dried in the open air, it is rubbed with bear's grease,

rare plant to put in his herbal, which he called his cannon; and laughed at the revolver in my belt and the rifle 1 carried. I told him that I intended to make a journey, in which, if he liked to accompany me, he would be able to make his researches, as my hunting on this trip would be restricted to my meat supply. He was delighted, and agreed to come with me; to which I consented on condition of his riding one of my horses, and I recommended the mustang, whose powers of endurance I knew, and tried to prove by telling him how it came into my possession. But it was of no avail, for none of my cattle possessed the qualities of his Lizzy; and he offered a bet that no one could catch her. For the sake of the joke, the mustang and the mule were soon saddled; a mosquito tree on the prairie, about half a mile from the fort, was selected as the goal; and away we started through the tall grass. It was really sur-through which it always remains soft and prising how fast Lizzy went, cocking up her rat-like tail and long ears; she accepted with pleasure the shower of blows that fell on her, and reached the goal only twenty yards behind me. I laughed most heartily at the amusing appearance of our naturalist, and expressed my admiration at his mule's pace; but marked at the same time, that for no consideration in the world would I ride her in the country I intended visiting, because I was well acquainted with the obstinacy of mules, and knew that when called on to show their speed they refused to do so, and neither fire nor sword could induce them. All such remarks, however, produced no change on Kreger's invincible faith in his favourite; and, as if he had assumed a portion of Lizzy's obstinacy through his long friendly relations with her, he irrevocably adhered to his resolution of only entrusting his carcass to her during the impending excursion.

supple, and will resist a tremendous pull. The one made by Mr. Kreger, though not plaited so smoothly and regularly, was useful, and afforded him great pleasure as a perfection of Lizzy's equipment. One end of this lasso is fastened round the horse's neck; it is rolled re-up, fastened by a loop to the saddle, undone when the animal is grazing, and bound round a tree or bush.

Our preparations, which were very simple, occupied us about a week; they consisted in removing Czar's shoes, and rubbing his hoofs frequently with bear's grease, for the Indians follow the track of a shoed horse as wolves do a deer's bleeding trail; in grinding coffee, and forcing it into bladders, and in plaiting two new lassos, for which I fetched two new buffalo hides, in which chase the botanist accompanied me, and felt a pride in having given

The day for our start arrived, and the morning was spent in saddling our horses and arranging our baggage in the most suitable way for both horse and rider, a most important thing in these hot regions, for the horse's back is easily galled, and then you are compelled to go on foot, which is very wearisome and fatiguing in a country where there are no roads. The naturalist at length completed his equipment of Lizzy, who looked more like a rhinoceros than a cross between a horse and a donkey. In front of the saddle hung the two bales of blotting paper over the large bearskin holsters, which, in addition to two pistols I had supplied, were crammed with biscuit, coffee, pepper and salt, snuff, &c. Over the saddle hung two leathern bags, fastened together by a strap, on which the rider had his seat. Behind the saddle, a frying-pan, coffee-pot, and tin mug, produced a far from pleasing harmony at every movement of the animal. Over the whole of this

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a gigantic buffalo hide was stretched, and | sanctuary, or fled from the heated plain, were
fastened with a surcingle round Lizzy's stout silently revelling in its beauty, and gratefully
body, so that, like a tortoise, she only dis- reposing in its coolness. Not a bird or insect
played her head and tail, and caused a spectator could be heard; not even the sound of a fall-
the greatest doubt as to what genus of quad- | ing leaf interrupted the tranquillity; and only
ruped she belonged. In order to complete the footfalls of our animals and the snorting
the picture, Lizzy had two enormous bushes of Czar echoed through the forest. Too soon
of a summer plant, which we call "Spanish for us, too soon for our horses, we reached
mulberry," stuck behind her ears, as a first- the end of our path, where it entered the
rate specific to keep the flies off. I had re- prairie on the other side, after we had walked
peatedly told Kreger of the absurdity of cover- the greater part of the distance, because the
ing Lizzy with this coat of mail, in which she crossing creepers frequently compelled us to
would melt away. But he said that I too bow our heads under them, as the makers of
had a skin over my saddle, and he wanted his the path did, for we saw their brown, shaggy
to protect him at night against rain and dew. hair floating in all directions. We followed the
On the back of this monster our naturalist path into the prairie, which begins about two
mounted, dressed in a long reddish homespun miles from the forest. On either side of the
coat, trousers of the same material, though path deer sprang out of the bushes, and flocks
rather more faded, with Mexican spurs on his of turkeys darted backwards and forwards
heels with wheels the size of a dollar, and a with long, quick steps in front of us. The
broad-brimmed felt hat, under which his long former I left undisturbed; but I shot one old,
face with the large light-blue eyes and eter- fat turkey-cock, and hung it on the saddle
nally smiling mouth peeped out. Over his behind me.
right shoulder hung his huge botanising case,
and over his left a double-barrelled gun of
mine loaded with slugs; his hat Mr. Kreger
had also adorned with a green bush, and sitting
erect in his wooden Mexican stirrups, he
swung his whip, and declared his readiness to
start. I rode Czar, and the only difference
from my ordinary equipment was that I had
a bag full of provisions hung on the saddle
behind me; this and a little more powder and
lead than usual, was all the extra weight Czar |
had to carry, and too insignificant for him to
feel. With a truly heavy heart I bade good-
bye to Trusty, and most earnestly commended
him to the care of my men. I could not take
him with me to an unknown country, where
I might feel certain of getting into situations
where I must trust to the speed of my horse,
and Trusty might easily get into trouble. The
firearms I left at the service of my garrison,
and consisting of nearly fifty rifles and fowling
pieces, were carefully inspected. We then
rode off, and soon heard the gate of the fort
bolted after us. It was the afternoon when
we rode down to the river-side and waded
through the stream.

Our path ran with a hundred windings through the solemn silence. It seemed as if every living creature that had sought this

The sun was rather low when we rode through the wide prairie; and we could only advance slowly because the grass at many spots came up to my horse's back. Our cattle were very worn; and poor Lizzie panted painfully under her harness, while the perspiration poured from her in streams. The sun was setting when we reached a small affluent of the Leone, where I knew of a good camping-place, at which I determined to spend the night. We unloaded our animals, which I soon completed, as I merely undid the belly-band, pulled saddle and all over Czar's croup, removed the bit, and then gave him a few taps on his damp back, as a sign that he could go wherever he pleased. My companion was much longer in removing all the articles of his household from Lizzy's back; and when he had finished she was a gruesome sight. White foam and dust had matted her long hair, her ears hung down and almost touched the ground, and her generally melancholy face was rendered still more so by the bushes waving over it. I really felt sorry for the poor wretch, and bluntly told Mr. Kreger that I would not ride a step farther with him unless he left the buffalo hide here. He was also convinced, by his Lizzy's wretched appearance, that she could not carry

this weight for long; and we agreed that I should tan the hide of the first deer I shot, and let him use it. Lizzy was led into the grass and tied to a bush, and we arranged our bivouac for the night. Kreger fetched dry wood and water. I lit the fire, set coffee to boil, spitted strips of the Turkey breast and liver, rubbed the meat in with pepper and salt, and put it to roast. Then I laid my horse-rug on the grass, with the saddle, holsters, and saddlebag ou it, hung the bridle and lasso on a branch, and took my seat in frout of the fire on my tiger-skin, while watching the naturalist, who was making a thousand arrangements, as if we were going to remain at least a month here.

arm.

rest.

It had grown dark. Supper was over. We fetched our animals and took them to water. Lizzy was hobbled in the grass near our camp, and Czar lay down behind a bush, but kept his head up for a long time, as if looking for somebody. It was Trusty, his playmate, that he missed; nor did I feel altogether comfortable under my rug. I dreamed nearly the whole night of Indians, and continually woke, when I made up the fire and lay down again with my rifle on my The botanist, on the contrary, slept like a top, packed up in his buffalo hide, with his head on an open bundle of blotting paper; at the same time he snored nearly the whole night, which did not help to improve my Before daybreak Czar got up, shook himself, and walked up to Lizzy, who still lay half dead in the grass, as if to wish her good morning. I roused my companion. We led the cattle to water; and while I got breakfast, I advised Mr. Kreger to make some botanical researches, which he did. He came back with such an armful of plants, that I told him I thought he had better not take more than one specimen of each, as otherwise, by the end of our journey, Lizzy would be unable to carry the load. He laid the plants in the blotting-paper, bound his bundles; and ere we started, I rolled up the buffalo hide with the hair outwards, and thrust it between two branches of a thicklyleaved tree, where it would remain until our

return

CHAPTER IV.

MR. KREGER'S FATF.

WE had a good day's journey to our next bivouac, and I was acquainted with the country so far. We rode rather sharply in spite of the tall grass, and at mid-day reached another small affluent of the Leone, where we granted ourselves and our cattle a few hours' rest. During this time I went down to the river side and shot a large deer, whose hide I conveyed to our resting-place, along with some of the meat and the skull. After scraping the skin quite clean, I split the skull, took out the brains, made them into a thin paste with water, smeared the skin on the inside with this, and then rolled it up tight and gave it to Mr. Kreger to carry, promising to get it ready for use next day. Brains dress skins famously; and this is the way the Indians prepare them. After lying in this state for four-and-twenty hours, they are washed clean, hung up in the shade, and, while damp, pulled over the sharp edge of a plank or the back of a bowie kuise till they are quite dry, which makes the skin as smooth and soft as velvet. In order to prevent a skin prepared in this way from turning hard when exposed to the wet, it is spread over a hole in the ground in which rotten wood is kindled, and it is smoked on both sides till it becomes quite yellow. My botanist employed the halt in exposing the plants plucked in the morning to the sun, while he collected fresh ones.

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At nightfall we reached Turkey Creek, as I had christened it from the great number of those birds I found here. Lizzy was again picketed, and we kept a watchful eye on the animals during the two hours they were grazing; for I had nearly reached the end of my terra cognita, and the border of regions which had never yet been visited by Palefaces. Ere we went to sleep, the logs were covered with ashes, the cattle fastened to trees close to us, and we lay down to rest after supper; but I could not sleep so soundly as when I had Trusty by my side: the slightest sound disturbed me, and it was always a long time ere I fell asleep again. About midnight I started up and fancied I had been dreaming about a storm. 1 looked up and saw that all

nificant stream had swollen into such a rapid torrent, and spread so far over its banks, that we could not hope to cross it.

I had no intention to stop here, and preferred riding up the stream in order to try and find a ford where we could cross with

the stars had disappeared; at the same moment the surrounding landscape was lit up by a flash of lightning, and a violent thunder-clap rolled down the valley. I sprang up, blew the fire into a flame, laid wood on it, and woke the snoring naturalist, who asked, in great alarm, about the cause of being dis-out danger. We rode for a good two hours turbed. I advised him to do as I did, then broke off an armfull of bushes, laid them in a heap, put my pistols and bag on it with the saddle over them, covered them with the horse-rug, and laid the jaguar-skin over all; after which I helped Kreger to put his traps in safety, in which he greatly missed the buffalo-hide.

While we were occupied with these preparations, the thunder rolled almost uninterruptedly, and the incessant flashes kept the tall trees brilliantly illumined. From the north we heard a sound like a distant waterfall; and the turmoil soon rose to the mournful howling of the tempest which is only to be heard in these regions. I was well acquainted with the approaching spirit of the storm, for I had often met it; hence I went up to Czar, put on his head-gear, and threw the bridle over my shoulder, giving Kreger a hint to do the same with Lizzy. But he had quite lost his head, and ran first to his heap of traps and then to the mule, when the storm burst over our heads in all its fury, and made the primæval trees crack in their very roots. It swept the earth and carried away with it an avalanche of dust, leaves, and branches; our fire stretched out long tongues of flame over the ground, and sent its sparks whirling through the coal-black night into the gloomy wood. The groans of the hurricane were blended with the deafening peals of thunder, which at every second made the earth tremble under our feet, and I had the greatest difficulty in making Kreger understand that he should come to me. I had selected a young white oak, whose branches were interlaced with creepers, to shelter myself and Czar, and had got out of the way of two lofty planes which were singing their death plaint.

The storm having subsided, we were ready to start at a tolerably early hour; but an obstacle offered itself which threatened to take us far out of our course. The usually insig

along the bank. The trees continually grew scantier, and the road more difficult through scattered boulders and rocks. Between these, huge ferns sprang up, and with the fallen trees, frequently blocked the way, so that we had to make a long circuit to fetch the river again. At length we reached a spot where the stream was more contracted, and an old cypress lay across it, which had been probably levelled by some storm. I went across the trunk, cut a long bough, and sounded the ground on the opposite bank; it rose at a steep pitch from the water, and was firm, so that I had no doubt but that our animals could easily clamber up it. I took the packages off Czar, carried them across, then fastened the lasso to my horse's bridle ring, and crossed the stream with it, shouting to him to follow me. The bank on his side was rather steep, which fact he had discovered by feeling with his fore feet, but he leaped with all four feet into the stream, bounded up the other bank, and set to work on the grass, which had been freshened by the last night's rain. Kreger followed my example, but Lizzy would not venture the leap; I therefore went across, suddenly seized her hind-quarters, and pushed her into the stream, which she entered head foremost, but soon reached the other side uninjured.

We loaded again, and rode down the stream opposite the spot where we had spent the night. It was mid-day by this time, and though the heat was not oppressive, our animals required a rest. We dined, and mounted again at about two o'clock. From this point the country was quite strange to me, and it was necessary to make sure of the direction in which we proceeded. I compared the compass let into my rifle-butt with the one I had in my pocket, and we rode at a quick pace toward the north-west.

The country again became flat, but very pleasant for ourselves and our horses. The prairies are frequently covered for miles with

post oaks, that is to say, oaks growing so close together, that their foliage is interlaced, and hardly allows the sun a peep at the ground, covered with fine short grass. At about nine o'clock we reached, with pleasant conversation, the end of the post oaks, through whose middle a clear stream wound. We greeted it gladly; for it is always disagreeable to camp without water near at hand. Our animals were soon unpacked, a small fire was lit in the thickest bushes, and at about eleven o'clock we lay down, with Czar and Lizzy by our side, hoping for a better night than the last. We slept gloriously, and awoke the next morning invigorated and in the best spirits.

The sun had just risen over the horizon when we mounted and rode over the plain, after taking, with the help of the compass, the nearest direction to the forest rising in the blue distance above the wide prairie. According to my calculation, it was about ten miles off. The prairie was very flat, and only a few mosquito trees grew on it here and there, which sufficed to estimate distances, for that is a difficult job without such marks. I told Kreger it would be better for us to push on, now the road was good, for a feeling of anxiety involuntarily oppressed me on this broad plain, where we could be so easily observed from the woods that formed a semicircle round it. I spoke to Czar every now and then, and we had nearly reached the middle of the prairie when my horse gave a start, and tried to break into a gallop. I attempted to pacify him, but he soon began snorting, and could not be held in.

1 had examined the prairie on either side of us, and when I looked behind, to my horror I saw a band of Indians coming after us at full speed, in front of a cloud of dust. My next glance was at the forest ahead of ns, to calculate how far it still was, and then my eyes fell in terror on the mule at my side. The band of Indians consisted of at least a hundred, and hence must belong to a powerful tribe, possessing the best horses and weapons. I turned deadly cold when I looked at Kreger, who as yet had no idea of our peril, and was carelessly whistling. made the utmost efforts to remain quiet, or at least to appear so, in order not to terrify

I

my companion, and begged him to urge on his mule, while I loosed the rein of my snorting steed, and allowed it to make a few forward bounds. Whether Kreger noticed a change in my countenance or voice I do not know, but he looked round, and noticing the approaching savages, with the ejaculation, "Great heavens, Indians!" he drove his enormous spurs into his mule's flanks, and pulled his bridle so tight, that the excessively sharp bit lacerated the wretched Lizzy's mouth. Kreger had turned deadly pale. He looked wildly around him, and showered blows with his whip on Lizzy's hind-quarters. At his first movements I foresaw what would happen, and tried to make him understand that if he let go the reins Lizzy would be sure to follow Czar, and we should be able to reach the forest, where the Indians could not hurt us. He did not hear-he did not see. A picture of horror, he stared fixedly before him, and Lizzy, putting her head between her legs, began kicking out behind. The danger grew every minute, for the yell of the cannibal horde, borne on the breeze, was already echoing in our ears. I rode up to Kreger and tried to drag the reins out of his hand; but it was of no use; no prayers, no remonstrances, reached his ear. It was almost impossible for me to hold Czar in any longer, for at one moment he reared, at another bounded onward.

The Indians during this time had drawn so near that I could hear their several voices, and distinguish the bright colours with which their faces were painted. Our life was in the greatest danger. My horse was terribly excited, and any slip on its part would infallibly entail my death. Once more I shouted to Kreger to be reasonable, and let go the reins, but he did not hear me. Minutes pressed. I let Czar go, and flew like the wind away from the hapless man, who was left to his fate, and my staying longer would be of no avail. I quieted my horse, and looked back at my unfortunate companion. The horde was now close behind him; in a second a dense cloud of dust surrounded him and the savages, while a yell of triumph, whose cause I could guess only too well, reached my ears. I pressed closer to Czar, patted his neck, and away we flew like light.

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