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

He Was The First To Propose It. Young Finn Was Grateful;

Beholding The Tears Of His Venerable Protector, He Would Have Remained

And Attended him Till The Hour Of His Death; But The Quaker Would Not

Permit Him, He Gave Him His Best Horse, And Furnished him With Arms And

Money. At That Time The Fame Of Daniel Boone Had Filled the Eastern

States, And Young Finn Had Read With Avidity The Adventures Of That Bold

Pioneer. Hearing That He Was Now On The Western Borders Of Kentucky,

Making Preparations For Emigration Farther West, Into The Very Heart Of

The Indian Country, He Resolved to Join Him And Share The Dangers Of His

Expedition.

 

 

 

The Life Of Boone Is Too Well Known For Me To Describe This Expedition.

Suffice It To Say, That, Once In missouri, Finn Conceived and Executed

The Idea Of Making alone A Trip Across The Rocky Mountains, To The Very

Borders Of The Pacific Ocean. Strange To Say, He Scarcely Remembers

Anything Of That First Trip, Which Lasted eleven Months.

 

 

 

The Animals Had Not Yet Been Scared out Of The Wilderness; Water Was

Found Twice Every Day; The Vine Grew Luxuriantly In the Forests, And The

Caravans Of The White Men Had Not Yet Destroyed the Patches Of Plums And

Nuts Which Grew Wild In the Prairies.

 

 

 

Finn Says He Listened to The Songs Of The Birds, And Watched the Sport

Of The Deer, The Buffaloes, And Wild Horses, In a Sort Of Dreaming

Existence, Fancying That He Heard Voices In the Streams, In the Foliage

Of The Trees, In the Caverns Of The Mountains; His Wild Imagination

Sometimes Conjuring Up Strange And Beautiful Spirits Of Another World,

Who Were His Guardians, And Who Lulled him Asleep Every Evening With

Music And Perfumes.

 

 

 

I Have Related this Pretty Nearly In the Very Terms Of Our Host, And

Many Of His Listeners Have Remarked, At Different Times, That When He

Was Dwelling Upon That Particular Portion Of His Life, He Became Gloomy

And Abstracted, As If Still Under The Influence Of Former Indelible

Impressions. Undoubtedly Captain Finn Is Of A Strong Poetical

Temperament, And Any One On Hearing Him Narrate Would Say The Same; But

It Is Supposed that, When The Captain Performed this First Solitary

Excursion, His Brain Was Affected by An Excited and Highly Poetical

Imagination. After Eleven Months Of Solitude, He Reached the Pacific

Ocean, And Awoke From His Long Illusion In the Middle Of A People Whose

Language He Could Not Understand; Yet They Were Men Of His Colour, Kind

And Hospitable; They Gave Him Jewels And Gold, And Sent Him Back East Of

The Mountains, Under The Protection Of Some Simple And Mild-Hearted

Savages. The Spot Where Finn Had Arrived was At One Of The Missions, And

Those Who Released him And Sent Him Back Were The Good Monks Of One Of

The Settlements In upper California.

 

 

 

When Finn Returned to The Mississippi, His Narrative Was So Much Blended

With Strange And Marvellous Stories That It Was Not Credited; But When

He Showed and Produced his Stock Of Gold Dust In bladders, And Some

Precious Stones, Fifty Different Proposals Were Made To Him To Guide A

Band Of Greedy Adventurers To The New Western Eldorado. Finn, Like

Boone, Could Not Bear The Society Of His Own Countrymen; He Dreaded to

Hear The Noise Of Their Axes Felling The Beautiful Trees; He Feared

Still More To Introduce Them, Like So Many Hungry Wolves, Among The Good

People Who Knew So Well The Sacred rites Of Hospitality.

 

 

 

After A Short Residence With The Old Backwoodsman, Finn Returned to

Virginia, Just In time To Close The Eyes Of The Kind Old Quaker. He

Found That His Old Friend Had Expected his Return, For He Had Sold All

His Property, And Deposited the Amount In the Hands Of A Safe Banker, To

Be Kept For Finn'S Benefit. The Young Wanderer Was Amazed; He Had Now

Ten Thousand Dollars, But What Could He Do With So Much Money? He

Thought Of A Home, Of Love And Happiness, Of The Daughter Of Old Boone,

And He Started off To Present Her With His Newly Acquired wealth. Finn

Entered boone'S Cottage, With His Bags And Pocket-Books In each Hand,

And Casting His Burden Into A Corner, He Entered at Once Upon

The Matter.

 

 

 

"Why, I Say, Old Man, I Am Sure I Love The Gal."

 

 

 

"She Is A Comely And Kind Girl," Said The Father.

 

 

 

"I Wish She Could Love Me."

 

 

 

"She Does."

 

 

 

"Does She? Well, I Tell You What, Boone, Give Her To Me, I'Ll Try To

Make Her Happy."

 

 

 

"I Will, But Not Yet," Said The Venerable Patriarch. "Why, You Are Both

Of You Mere Children; She Can'T Get A House, And How Could You

Support Her?"

 

 

 

Finn Jumped up With Pride And Glee. "Look," Said He, While He Scattered

On The Floor His Bank-Notes, His Gold, And Silver, "That Will Support

Her Bravely; Tell Me, Old Father, That Will Keep Her Snug, Won'T It?"

 

 

 

The Pioneer Nodded his Head. "Finn," Answered he, "You Are A Good Young

Man, And I Like You; You Think Like Me; You Love Polly, And Polly Loves

You; Mind, You Shall Have Her When You Are Both Old Enough; But

Remember, My Son, Neither Your Pieces Of Money Nor Your Rags Of Paper

Will Ever Keep A Daughter Of Mine. No, No! You Shall Have Polly, But You

Must First Know How To Use The Rifle And The Axe."

 

 

 

A Short Time After This Interview, Finn Started upon Another Trip To

Unknown Lands, Leaving Old Boone To Make The Most He Could Of His Money.

Now, The Old Pioneer, Although A Bold Hunter, And An Intrepid Warrior,

Was A Mere Child In matters Of Interest, And In less Than Two Months He

Had Lost The Whole Deposit, The Only "Gentleman" He Ever Trusted having

Suddenly Disappeared with The Funds. In the Meanwhile Finn Had Gone Down

The Mississippi, To The Thirty-Second Degree Of North Latitude, When,

Entering The Western Swamps, Where No White Man Had Ever Penetrated, He

Forced his Way To The Red river, Which He Reached a Little Above The Old

French Establishment Of Nachitoches. Beyond This Point, Inland

Navigation Had Never Been Attempted, And Finn, Procuring a Light

Dug-Out, Started alone, With His Arms And His Blanket, Upon His Voyage

Of Discovery. During Four Months He Struggled daily Against The Rapid

Stream, Till He At Last Reached, In spite Of Rafts And Dangerous Eddies,

Its Source At The Rocky Mountains. On His Return, A Singular And

Terrible Adventure Befel Him: He Was Dragging His Canoe Over A Raft,

Exactly Opposite To Where Now Stands His Plantation, When, Happening To

Hurt His Foot, He Lost Hold Of His Canoe. It Was On The Very Edge Of The

Raft, Near A Ruffled eddy: The Frail Bark Was Swamped in a Moment, And

With It Finn Lost His Rifle, All His Arms, And His Blanket[27].

 

 

 

[Footnote 27: Rafts Are An Assemblage Of Forest Trees, Which Have Been

Washed down To The River, From The Undermining Of Its Banks. At Certain

Points They Become Interlaced and Stationary, Stretching Right Across

The River, Prevailing The Passage Of Even A Canoe.]

 

 

 

Now That Cotton Grown On The Red river Has Been Acknowledged to Be The

Best In the States, Speculators Have Settled upon Both Sides Of It As

Far As Two Hundred miles Above Lost Prairie; But At The Time That Finn

Made His Excursion, The Country Was A Wilderness Of Horrible Morasses,

Where The Alligators Basked unmolested. For Months Finn Found Himself A

Prisoner At Lost Prairie, The Spot Being Surrounded with Impenetrable

Swamps, Where The Lightest Foot Would Have Sunk Many Fathoms Below The

Surface. As To Crossing The River, It Was Out Of The Question, As It Was

More Than Half A Mile Broad, And Finn Was No Swimmer: Even Now, No Human

Being Or Animal Can Cross It At This Particular Spot, For So Powerful

Are The Eddies, That, Unless A Pilot Is Well Acquainted with The

Passage, A Boat Will Be Capsized in the Whirlpools. Human Life Can Be

Sustained upon Very Little, For Finn Managed to Live For Months Upon A

Marshy Ground Six Miles In extent, Partially Covered with Prickly Pears,

Sour Grapes, And Mushrooms. Birds He Would Occasionally Kill With

Sticks; Several Times He Surprised tortoises Coming On Shore To Deposit

Their Eggs, And Once, When Much Pressed by Hunger, He Gave Battle To A

Huge Alligator. Fire He Had None; His Clothes Had Long Been In rags; His

Beard Had Grown To A Great Length, And His Nails Were Sharp As The Claws

Of A Wild Beast. At Last There Was A Flood In the River, And Above The

Raft Finn Perceived two Immense Pine Trees Afloat In the Middle Of The

Stream. Impelled by The Force Of The Current, They Cut Through The Raft,

Where The Timber Was Rotten, And Then Grounded.

 

 

 

This Was A Chance Which Finn Lost No Time In profiting By; Out Of The

Fibrous Substance Of The Prickly Pear, He Soon Manufactured sufficient

Rope To Lash The Two Trees Together, With Great Labour Got Them Afloat,

And Was Carried down The Stream With The Speed of An Arrow. He Succeeded

In Landing Many Miles Below, On The Eastern Bank, But He Was So Bruised,

That For Many Days He Was Unable To Move.

 

 

 

One Day A Report Was Spread In the Neighbourhood Of Port Gibson, That A

Strange Monster, Of The Ourang-Outang Species, Had Penetrated the

Canebrakes Upon The Western Banks Of The Mississippi. Some Negroes

Declared to Have Seen Him Tearing Down A Brown Bear; An Arkansas Hunter

Had Sent To Philadelphia An Exaggerated account Of This Recently

Discovered animal, And The Members Of The Academies Had Written To Him

To Catch The Animal, If Possible, Alive, No Matter At What Expense. A

Hunting Expedition Was Consequently Formed, Hundreds Of Dogs Were Let

Loose In the Canebrakes, And The Chase Began.

 

 

 

The Hunters Were Assembled, Waiting Till The Strange Animal Should Break

Cover, When Suddenly He Burst Upon Them, Covered with Blood, And

Followed closely By Ten Or Fifteen Hounds. He Was Armed with A Heavy

Club, With Which He Now And Then Turned upon The Dogs, Crushing Them At

A Blow. The Hunters Were Dumb With Astonishment; Mounting Their Horses,

They Sprang Forward To Witness The Conflict; The Brute, On Seeing Them,

Gave A Loud Shout; One Of The Hunters, Being Terrified, Fired at Him

With His Rifle; The Strange Animal Put One Of Its Hairy Paws Upon Its

Breast, Staggered, And Fell; A Voice Was Heard: "The Lord Forgive You

This Murder!"

 

 

 

On Coming Near, The Hunters Found That Their Victim Was A Man, Covered

With Hair From Head To Foot; He Was Senseless, But Not Dead. They

Deplored their Fatal Error, And Resolved that No Expense Or Attention

Should Be Spared upon The Unfortunate Sufferer. This Hunted beast, This

Hairy Man, Was Finn. The Wound, Not Being Mortal, Was Soon Cured; But He

Became Crazy, And Did Not Recover His Reason For Eight Months. He

Related his Adventures Up To His Quitting The Lost Prairie: After Which

All Was A Blank. His Narrative Soon Spread All Over The States, And Land

Speculators Crowded from Every Part To Hear Finn'S Description Of The

Unknown Countries. The Government Became Anxious To Establish New

Settlements In these Countries, And Finn Was Induced to Commence The

Work Of Colonization By The Gift Of The "Lost Prairie." Money Was Also

Supplied to Him, That He Might Purchase Slaves; But Before Taking

Possession Of His Grant, He Went To Missouri To Visit His Old Friend,

And Claim His Bride. Her Father Had Been Dead For Some Time, But The

Daughter Was Constant.

 

 

 

With His Wife, His Brother-In-Law, His Negroes, And Several Waggons

Loaded with The Most Necessary Articles, Finn Forced his Way To Little

Rock, On The Arkansas River, Whence, After A Short Repose, He Again

Started in a S.S.W. Direction, Through A Hilly And Woody Country Never

Before Travelled. At Last He Reached the "Lost Prairie," Nothing Was

Heard Of Him For Two Years, When He Appeared at Nachitoches In a Long

_Cow_[28] Laden With Produce.

 

 

 

[Footnote 28: A Cow Is A Kind Of Floating Raft Peculiar To The Western

Rivers Of America, Being Composed of Immense Pine-Trees Tied together,

And Upon Which A Log Cabin Is Erected.]

 

 

 

From Nachitoches Finn Proceeded to New Orleans, Where The Money Received

For His Cotton, Furs, And Honey Enabled him To Purchase Two More Negroes

And A Fresh Supply Of Husbandry Tools. A Company Was Immediately Formed,

For The Purpose Of Exploring The Red river, As Far As It Might Prove

Navigable, And Surveying The Lands Susceptible Of Cultivation. A Small

Steamboat Was Procured, And Its Command Offered to Finn, Who Thus Became

A Captain. Although The Boat Could Not Proceed higher Than Lost Prairie,

The Result Of The Survey Induced hundreds Of Planters To Settle Upon The

Banks Of The River, And Captain Finn Lived to Become Rich And