MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

to Pass

Through Austin, The Capital Of Texas, Our Kind Entertainers Pressed five

Hundred dollars Upon Us, Under The Plea That No Texan Would Ever Give Us

A Tumbler Of Water Except It Was Paid For, And That, Moreover, It Was

Possible That After Passing a Few Days Among The Gallant Members Of

Congress, We Might Miss Our Holsters Or Stirrups, Our Blankets, Or Even

One Of Our Horses.

 

 

 

We Found Their Prediction, In the First Instance, But Too True. Six

Miles From Austin We Stopped at The Farm Of The Honourable Judge Webb,

And Asked leave To Water Our Horses, As They Had Travelled forty Miles

Under A Hot Sun Without Drawing Bit. The Honourable Judge Flatly

Refused, Although He Had A Good Well, Besides A Pond, Under Fence,

Covering Several Acres; His Wife, However, Reflecting, Perhaps, That Her

Stores Were Rather Short Of Coffee Or Salt, Entered into A Rapid

Discussion With Her Worse Half, And By-And-Bye That Respectable Couple

Of Honourables Agreed to Sell Water To Us At Twenty-Five Cents A Bucket.

 

 

 

When We Dismounted to Take The Bridles Off Our Horses, The Daughters

Arrived, And Perceiving We Had New Silk Sashes And Neckerchiefs And Some

Fine Jewels, They Devoured us With Their Eyes, And One Of Them, Speaking

To Her Papa, That Most Hospitable Gentleman Invited us To Enter His

House. By That Time We Were Once More Upon Our Saddles And Ready To

Start. Roche Felt Indignant At The Meanness Of The Fellow Who Had

Received our Severity-Five Cents For The Water Before He Invited us Into

The House. We Refused, And Roche Told Him That He Was An Old Scoundrel

To Sell For Money That Which Even A Savage Will Never Refuse To His Most

Bitter Enemy.

 

 

 

The Rage Of The Honourable Cannot Be Depicted: "My Rifle!" He

Vociferated, "My Rifle! For God'S Sake, Betsey--Juliet, Run For

My Rifle!"

 

 

 

The Judge Then Went Into The House; But, As Three Pistols Were Drawn

From Our Holsters, Neither He Nor His Rifle Made Their Appearance, So We

Turned our Horses' Heads And Rode On Leisurely To Austin.

 

 

 

In Austin We Had A Grand Opportunity Of Seeing The Texans Under Their

True Colours. There Were Three Hotels In the Town, And Every Evening,

After Five O'Clock, Almost All Of Them, Not Excluding The President Of

The Republic, The Secretaries, Judges, Ministers, And Members Of

Congress, Were More Or Less Tipsy, And In the Quarrels Which Ensued

Hardly A Night Passed without Four Or Five Men Being Stabbed or Shot,

And The Riot Was Continued during The Major Portion Of The Night, So

That At Nine O'Clock In the Morning Everybody Was Still In bed. So

Buried in silence Was The Town, That One Morning at Eight O'Clock, I

Killed a Fine Buck Grazing Quietly Before The Door Of The Capitol. It Is

Strange That This Capital Of Texas Should Have Been Erected upon The

Very Northern Boundary Of The State. Indians Have Often Entered it And

Taken Scalps Not Ten Steps From The Capitol.

 

 

 

While We Were In austin We Made The Acquaintance Of Old Castro, The

Chief Of The Lepan Indians, An Offset Of The Comanche Tribe. He Is One

Of The Best-Bred gentlemen In the World, Having Received a Liberal And

Military Education, First In mexico, And Subsequently In spain. He Has

Travelled in france, Germany, England, And, In fact, All Over Europe. He

Speaks And Writes Five Or Six Languages, And So Conscious Is He Of His

Superiority Over The Texans, That He Never Addresses Them But With

Contempt. He Once Said To Them In the Legislature-Room Of Matagorda--

 

 

 

"Never Deceive Yourselves, Texans. I Fight With You Against The

Mexicans, Because Betwixt Them And Me There Is An Irreconcilable Hatred.

Do Not Then Flatter Yourselves That It Is Through Friendship Towards

You. I Can Give My Friendship Only To Those Who Are Honourable Both In

Peace And In war; You Are All Of You Liars, And Many Of You Thieves,

Scoundrels, And Base Murderers. Yes, Dogs, I Say True; Yelp Not, Bark

Not, For You Know You Dare Not Bite, Now That My Two Hundred warriors

Are Surrounding This Building: Be Silent, I Say."

 

 

 

Castro Was Going In the Same Direction As Ourselves To Join His Band,

Which Was At That Moment Buffalo-Hunting, A Few Journeys Northward. He

Had Promised his Company And Protection To Two Foreign Gentlemen, Who

Were Desirous Of Beholding The Huge Tenant Of The Prairies. We All

Started together, And We Enjoyed very Much This Addition To Our Company.

 

 

 

The First Day We Travelled over An Old Spanish Military Road, Crossing

Rich Rolling Prairies, Here And There Watered by Clear Streams, The

Banks Of Which Are Sheltered by Magnificent Oaks. Fifteen Miles From

Austin There Is A Remarkable Spot, Upon Which A Visionary Speculator Had

A Short Time Before Attempted to Found A City. He Purchased an Immense

Tract Of Ground, Had Beautiful Plans Drawn And Painted, And Very Soon

There Appeared, Upon Paper, One Of The Largest And Handsomest Cities In

The World. There Were Colleges And Public Squares, Penitentiaries,

Banks, Taverns, Whisky-Shops, And Fine Walks. I Hardly Need say, That

This Town-Manufacturer Was A Yankee, Who Intended to Realize A Million

By Selling Town-Lots. The City (In Prospective) Was Called athens, And

The Silly Fellow Had So Much Confidence In his Own Speculation, That He

Actually Built Upon The Ground A Very Large And Expensive House. One

Day, As He, With Three Or Four Negroes, Were Occupied in digging a Well,

He Was Attacked by A Party Of Yankee Thieves, Who Thought He Had A Great

Deal Of Money. The Poor Devil Ran Away From His Beloved city And

Returned no More. The House Stands As It Was Left. I Even Saw Near The

Well The Spades And Pickaxes With Which They Had Been Working at The

Time Of The Attack. Thus Modern Athens Was Cut Off In the Bud, Which Was

A Great Pity, As A Few Athenian Sages And Legislators Are Sadly

Wanted in texas.

 

 

 

Early One Morning We Were Awakened by Loud Roars In the Prairie. Castro

Started on His Feet, And Soon Gave The Welcome News, "The Buffaloes." On

The Plain Were Hundreds Of Dark Moving Spots, Which Increased in size As

We Came Nearer; And Before Long We Could Clearly See The Shaggy Brutes

Galloping across The Prairie, And Extending Their Dark, Compact

Phalanxes Even To The Line Of The Horizon. Then Followed a Scene Of

Excitement The Buffaloes, Scared by The Continual Reports Of Our Rifles,

Broke Their Ranks And Scattered themselves In every Direction.

 

 

 

The Two Foreigners Were Both British, The Youngest Being a Young

Irishman Of A Good Family, And Of The Name Of Fitzgerald. We Had Been

Quite Captivated by His Constant Good Humour And Vivacity Of Spirits; He

Was The Life Of Our Little Evening Encampments, And, As He Had Travelled

On The Other Side Of The Pacific, We Would Remain Till Late At Night

Listening To His Interesting and Beautiful Narratives Of His Adventures

In Asiatic Countries.

 

 

 

He Had At First Joined the English Legion In spain, In which He Had

Advanced to The Rank Of Captain; He Soon Got Tired of That Service And

Went To Persia, Where He Entered into The Shah'S Employ As An Officer Of

Artillery. This After Some Time Not Suiting His Fancy, He Returned to

England, And Decided upon Visiting Texas, And Establishing Himself As A

Merchant At San Antonio. But His Taste For A Wandering Life Would Not

Allow Him To Remain Quiet For Any Length Of Time, And Having One Day

Fallen In with An English Naturalist, Who Had Come Out On Purpose To

Visit The North-West Prairies Of Texas, He Resolved to Accompany Him.

 

 

 

Always Ready For Any Adventure, Fitz. Rushed madly Among The Buffaloes.

He Was Mounted upon A Wild Horse Of The Small Breed, Loaded with

Saddlebags, Water Calabashes, Tin And Coffee-Cups, Blankets, &C.; But

These Encumbrances Did Not Stop Him In the Least. With His Bridle

Fastened to The Pommel Of His Saddle And A Pistol In each Hand, He Shot

To The Right And Left, Stopping Now And Then To Reload And Then Starting

Anew. During The Hunt He Lost His Hat, His Saddlebags, With Linen And

Money, And His Blankets: As He Never Took The Trouble To Pick Them Up,

They Are Probably Yet In the Prairie Where They Were Dropped.

 

 

 

The Other Stranger Was An English Savant, One Of The Queerest Fellows In

The World. He Wished also To Take His Share In the Buffalo-Hunt, But His

Steed was A Lazy And Peaceable Animal, A True Nag For A Fat Abbot,

Having a Horror Of Anything Like Trotting Or Galloping; And As He Was

Not To Be Persuaded out Of His Slow Walk, He And His Master Remained at

A Respectable Distance From The Scene Of Action. What An Excellent

Caricature Might Have Been Made Of That Good-Humoured savant, As He Sat

On His Rosinante, Armed with An Enormous Doubled-Barrelled gun, Loaded

But Not Primed, Some Time, To No Purpose, Spurring The Self-Willed

Animal, And Then Spying Through An Opera-Glass At The Majestic Animals

Which He Could Not Approach.

 

 

 

We Killed nine Bulls And Seven Fat Calves, And In the Evening We

Encamped near A Little River, Where We Made An Exquisite Supper Of

Marrow And Tongue, Two Good Things, Which Can Only Be Enjoyed in the

Wild Prairies. The Next Day, At Sunset, We Received a Visit From An

Immense Herd Of Mustangs (Wild Horses). We Saw Them At First Ascending

One Of The Swells Of The Prairie, And Took Them For Hostile Indians; But

Having Satisfied their Curiosity, The Whole Herd Wheeled round With As

Much Regularity As A Well-Drilled squadron, And With Their Tails Erect

And Long Manes Floating To The Wind, Were Soon Out Of Sight.

 

 

 

Many Strange Stories Have Been Related by Trappers And Hunters, Of A

Solitary White Horse Which Has Often Been Met With Near The Cross

Timbers And The Red river. No One Ever Saw Him Trotting Or Galloping; He

Only Racks, But With Such Rapidity That No Steed can Follow Him. Immense

Sums Of Money Have Been Offered to Any Who Could Catch Him, And Many

Have Attempted the Task, But Without Success. The Noble Animal Still

Runs Free In his Native Prairies, Always Alone And Unapproachable.

 

 

 

We Often Met With The Mountain Goat, An Animal Which Participates Both

Of The Deer And The Common Goat, But Whose Flesh Is Far Superior To

Either. It Is Gracefully Shaped--Long-Legged and Very Fleet. One Of

Them, Whose Fore-Leg I Had Broken With A Rifle-Ball, Escaped from Our

Fleetest Horse (Castro'S), After A Chase Of Nearly Thirty Minutes. The

Mountain Goat Is Found On The Great Platforms Of The Rocky Mountains,

And Also At The Broad Waters Of The Rivers Brasos And Colorado. Though

Of A Very Timid Nature They Are Superlatively Inquisitive, And Can Be

Easily Attracted within Rifle-Range By Agitating, From Behind A Tree, A

White Or Red handkerchief.

 

 

 

We Were Also Often Visited, During The Night, By Rattlesnakes, Who Liked

Amazingly The Heat And Softness Of Our Blankets. They Were Unwelcome

Customers, To Be Sure; But Yet There Were Some Others Of Which We Were

Still More In dread: Among Them I May Class, As The Ugliest And Most

Deadly, The Prairie Tarantula, A Large Spider, Bigger Than A Good-Sized

Chicken Egg, Hairy, Like A Bear, With Small Blood-Shot Eyes And Little

Sharp Teeth.

 

 

 

One Evening, We Encamped near A Little Spring, Two Miles From The

Brasos. Finding No Wood To Burn Near To Us, Fitzgerald Started to Fetch

Some. As I Have Said, His Was A Small Wild Horse; He Was Imprudent

Enough To Tie To Its Tail A Young Tree, Which He Had Cut Down. The Pony,

Of Course, Got Angry, And Galloped furiously Towards The Camp,

Surrounded by A Cloud Of Dust. At This Sight, The Other Horses Began To

Show Signs Of Terror; But We Were Fortunate Enough To Secure Them All

Before It Was Too Late, Or We Should Have Lost Them For Ever.

 

 

 

It Is Astonishing To Witness In the Prairies How Powerfully Fear Will

Act, Not Only Upon The Buffaloes And Mustangs, But Also Upon Tame Horses

And Cattle. Oxen Will Run Farther Than Horses, And Some Of Them Have

Been Known, When Under The Influence Of The Estampede, Or Sudden Fright,

To Run Forty Miles Without Ever Stopping, And When At Last They Halted,

It Was Merely Because Exhausted nature Would Not Allow Them To Go

Further. The Texan Expedition, On Its Way To Santa Fe, Once Lost Ninety

Four Horses By An Estampede. I Must Say That Nothing Can Exceed the

Grandeur Of The Sight, When A Numerous Body Of Cattle Are Under Its

Influence. Old Nags, Broken By Age And Fatigue, Who Have Been Deserted

On Account Of Their Weakness, Appear As Wild And Fresh As Young Colts.

As Soon As They Are Seized with That Inexplicable Dread Which Forces

Them To Fly, They Appear To Regain