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

Be Found. No Mosquitoes, No Prairie

Horse-Flies, No Beetles, Except The Ceconilla Or Large Phosphoric Fly Of

California, And But Very Few Worms And Caterpillars; The Consequence Is,

That There Are But Two Or Three Classes Of The Smaller Species Of

Carnivorous Birds; The Large Ones, Such As The Common And Red-Headed

Vulture And Crow, Are Very Convenient, Fulfilling The Office Of General

Scavengers In the Prairies, Where Every Year Thousands Of Wild Cattle

Die, Either From Fighting, Or, When In the Central Deserts, From The

Want Of Water. On The Western Coast, The Aspect Of The Country, In

General, Is Gently Diversified; The Monotony Of The Prairies In the

Interior Being Broken By _Islands_ Of Fine Timber, And Now And Then By

Mountains Projecting Boldly From Their Bases. Near The Sea-Shore The

Plains Are Intersected by Various Ridges Of Mountains, Giving Birth To

Thousands Of Small Rapid Streams, Which Carry Their Cool And Limpid

Waters To The Many Tributaries Of The Sea, Which Are Very Numerous

Between The Mouth Of The Calumet And Buonaventura. Near To The Coast

Lies A Belt Of Lofty Pines And Shady Odoriferous Magnolias, Which

Extends In some Places To The Very Beach And Upon The High Cliffs, Under

Which The Shore Is So Bold That The Largest Man-Of-War Could Sail

Without Danger. I Remember To Have Once Seen, Above The Bay Of San

Francisco, The Sailors Of A Mexican Brig Sitting On The Ends Of Their

Topsail Yards, And Picking The Flowers From The Branches Of The Trees As

They Glided by.

 

 

 

In That Part Of The Country, Which Is Intersected by Mountains, The Soil

Is Almost Everywhere Mineral, While The Mountains Themselves Contain

Rich Mines Of Copper. I Know Of Beds Of Gallena Extending For More Than

A Hundred miles; And, In some Tracts, Magnesian Earths Cover An Immense

Portion Of The Higher Ridges. Most Of The Sandy Streams Of The Shoshone

Territory Contain A Great Deal Of Gold-Dust, Which The Indians Collect

Twice A Year And Exchange Away With The Mexicans, And Also With The

Arrapahoes.

 

 

 

The Principal Streams Containing Gold Are Tributaries To The

Buonaventura, But There Are Many Others Emptying Into Small Lakes Of

Volcanic Formation. The Mountains In the Neighbourhood Of The Colorado

Of The West, And In the Very Country Of The Arrapahoes, Are Full Of

Silver, And Perhaps No People In the World Can Show A Greater Profusion

Of This Bright Metal Than These Indians.

 

 

 

The Shoshone Territory Is Of Modern Formation, At Least In comparison

With The More Southern Countries Where The Cordillieres And The Andes

Project To The Very Shores Of The Ocean. It Is Evident That The Best

Portion Of The Land, West Of The Buonaventura, Was First Redeemed from

The Sea By Some Terrible Volcanic Eruption. Until About Two Centuries

Ago, Or Perhaps Less, These Subterranean Fires Have Continued to

Exercise Their Ravages, Raising Prairies Into Mountains, And Sinking

Mountains And Forests Many Fathoms Below The Surface Of The Earth; Their

Sites Now Marked by Lakes Of Clear And Transparent Water, Frequently

Impregnated with A Slight, Though Not Unpleasant, Taste Of Sulphur;

While Precious Stones, Such As Topazes, Sapphires, Large Blocks Of

Amethysts, Are Found Every Day In the Sand And Among The Pebbles On

Their Borders.

 

 

 

In Calm Days I Have Often Seen, At A Few Fathoms Deep, The Tops Of Pine

Trees Still Standing In their Natural Perpendicular Position. In the

Southern Streams Are Found Emeralds Of Very Fine Water; Opals Also Are

Very Frequently Met With.

 

 

 

The Formation Of The Rocks Is In general Basaltic, But White, Black, And

Green Marble, Red porphyry, Jaspar, Red and Grey Granite, Abound East Of

The Buonaventura. Quartz, Upon Some Of The Mountains Near The Sea-Shore,

Is Found In immense Blocks, And Principally In that Mountain Range Which

Is Designated in the Map As The "Montagne Du Monstre," At The Foot Of

Which Were Dug Up The Remains Of The Huge Saurian Lizard.

 

 

 

The Greater Portion Of The Country Is, Of Course, Prairie; These

Prairies Are Covered with Blue Grass, Muskeet Grass, Clovers, Sweet

Prairie Hay, And The Other Grasses Common To The East Of The Continent

Of America. Here And There Are Scattered patches Of Plums Of The

Greengage Kind, Berries, And A Peculiar Kind Of Shrub Oaks, Never More

Than Five Feet High, Yet Bearing a Very Large And Sweet Acorn; Ranges Of

Hazel Nuts Will Often Extend Thirty Or Forty Miles, And Are The Abode Of

Millions Of Birds Of The Richest And Deepest Dyes.

 

 

 

Along The Streams Which Glide Through The Prairies, There Is A Luxuriant

Growth Of Noble Timber, Such As Maple, Magnolia, Blue And Green Ash, Red

Oak, And Cedar, Around Which Climb Vines Loaded with Grapes. Near The

Sea-Shores, The Pine, Both Black And White, Becomes Exceedingly Common,

While The Smaller Plains And Hills Are Covered with That Peculiar

Species Of The Prickly Pear Upon Which The Cochineal Insect Feeds. All

Round The Extinguished volcano, And Principally In the Neighbourhood Of

The Hill Nanawa Ashta Jueri E, The Locality Of Our Settlement Upon The

Banks Of The Buonaventura, The Bushes Are Covered with A Very Superior

Quality Of The Vanilla Bean.

 

 

 

The Rivers And Streams, As Well As The Lakes Of The Interior, Abound

With Fish; In the Latter, The Perch, Trout, And Carp Are Very Common; In

The Former, The Salmon And White Cat-Fish, The Soft-Shelled tortoise,

The Pearl Oyster, The Sea-Perch (Lupus Maritimes), The Ecrivisse, And

Hundred families Of The "Crevette Species," Offer To The Indian A Great

Variety Of Delicate Food For The Winter. In the Bays Along The Shore,

The Mackarel And Bonita, The Turtle, And, Unfortunately, The Sharks, Are

Very Numerous; While On The Shelly Beach, Or The Fissures Of The Rocks,

Are To Be Found Lobsters, And Crabs Of Various Sorts.

 

 

 

The Whole Country Offers A Vast Field To The Naturalist; The Most Common

Birds Of Prey Are The Bald, The White-Headed eagle, The Black And The

Grey, The Falcon, The Common Hawk, The Epervier, The Black And

Red-Headed vulture, The Raven And The Crow. Among The Granivorous, The

Turkey, The Wapo (A Small Kind Of Prairie Ostrich), The Golden And

Common Pheasant, The Wild Peacock, Of A Dull Whitish Colour, And The

Guinea-Fowl; These Two Last, Which Are Very Numerous, Are Not Indigenous

To This Part Of The Country, But About A Century Ago Escaped from The

Various Missions Of Upper California, At Which They Had Been Bred, And

Since Have Propagated in incredible Numbers; Also The Grouse, The

Prairie Hen, The Partridge, The Quail, The Green Parrot, The Blackbird,

And Many Others Which I Cannot Name, Not Knowing Their Generic

Denomination. The Water-Fowls Are Plentiful, Such As Swans, Geese, Ducks

Of Many Different Species, And The Canadian Geese With Their Long Black

Necks, Which, From November To March, Graze On The Prairies In

Thousands.

 

 

 

The Quadrupeds Are Also Much Diversified. First In rank, Among The

Grazing animals, I May Name The Mustangs, Or Wild Horses, Which Wander

In The Natural Pastures In herds Of Hundreds Of Thousands. They Vary In

Species And Size, According To The Country Where They Are Found, But

Those Found In california, Sonora, And The Western District Of Texas,

Are The Finest Breed in the World. They Were Imported from Andalusia By

The Spaniards, Almost Immediately After The Conquest Of Grenada, The

Bishop Of Leon Having Previously, By His Prayers, "Exorcised the Devil

Out Of Their Bodies."

 

 

 

Mr. Catlin Says, That In seeing The Comanche Horse, He Was Much

Disappointed; It Is Likely, Mr. Catlin Having Only Visited the Northern

Borders Of Texas, And The Poorest Village Of The Whole Comanche Tribe.

If, However, He Had Proceeded as Far As The Rio Puerco, He Would Have

Seen The True Mecca Breed, With Which The Moslems Conquered spain. He

Would Have Also Perceived how Much The Advantages Of A Beautiful Clime

And Perpetual Pasture Has Improved these Noble Animals, Making Them

Superior To The Primitive Stock, Both In size, Speed, And Bottom. With

One Of Them I Made A Journey Of Five Thousand Miles, And On Arriving In

Missouri, I Sold Him For Eight Hundred dollars. He Was An Entire Horse,

As White As Snow, And Standing Seventeen And A Half Hands High. One

Thousand Pounds Would Not Have Purchased him In england.

 

 

 

Next, The Lordly Buffaloes, The Swift Wild-Goat, The Deer, The Antelope,

The Elk, The Prairie Dogs, The Hare, And The Rabbits. The Carnivorous

Are The Red panther, Or Puma[31], The Spotted leopard, The Ounce, The

Jaguar, The Grizzly Black And Brown Bear, The Wolf, Black, White And

Grey; The Blue, Red, And Black Fox, The Badger, The Porcupine, The

Hedgehog, And The Coati (An Animal Peculiar To The Shoshone Territory,

And Upper California), A Kind Of Mixture Of The Fox And Wolf Breed,

Fierce Little Animals With Bushy Tails And Large Heads, And A Quick,

Sharp Bark.

 

 

 

[Footnote 31: The Puma, Or Red panther, Is Also Called "American Lion,

Cougar," And In the Western States, "Catamount." It Was Once Spread All

Over The Continent Of America, And Is Even Now Found, Although Very

Rarely, As Far North As Hudson'S Bay. No Matter Under What Latitude, The

Puma Is A Sanguinary Animal; But His Strength, Size, And Thirst Of

Blood, Vary With The Clime.

 

 

 

I Have Killed this Animal In california, In the Rocky Mountains, In

Texas, And In missouri; In each Of These Places It Presented quite A

Different Character. In chili It Has The Breadth And Limbs Approaching

To Those Of The African Lion; To The Far North, It Falls Away In bulk,

Until It Is As Thin And Agile As The Hunting Leopard. In missouri And

Arkansas, The Puma Will Prey Chiefly Upon Fowls And Young Pigs; It Will

Run Away From Dogs, Cows, Horses, And Even From Goats. In louisiana And

Texas It Will Run From Man, But It Fights The Dogs, Tears The Horse, And

Kills The Cattle, Even The Wild Buffalo, Merely For Sport. In the

Anahuar, Cordillieres, And Rocky Mountains, It Disdains To Fly, Becomes

More Majestic In its Movements, And Faces Its Opponents, From The

Grizzly Bear To A Whole Company Of Traders; Yet It Will Seldom Attack

Unless When Cubbing. In sonora And California, It Is Even More

Ferocious. When Hungry, It Will Hunt By The Scent, Like The Dog, With

Its Nose On The Ground. Meeting a Trail, It Follows It At The Rate Of

Twenty Miles An Hour, Till It Can Pounce Upon A Prey; A Single Horseman,

Or An Army, A Deer, Or Ten Thousand Buffaloes, It Cares Not, It Attacks

Everything.

 

 

 

I Did Not Like To Interrupt My Narrative Merely To Relate A Puma

Adventure, But During The Time That I Was With The Comanches, A Mexican

Priest, Who Had For A Long Time Sojourned as Instructor Among The

Indians, Arrived in the Great Village On His Way To St. Louis, Mi.,

Where He Was Proceeding On Clerical Affairs. The Comanches Received him

With Affection, Gave Him A Fresh Mule, With New Blankets, And Mustered a

Small Party To Accompany Him To The Wakoes Indians.

 

 

 

The Padre Was A Highly Talented man, Above The Prejudices Of His Cast;

He Had Lived the Best Part Of His Life In the Wilderness Among The Wild

Tribes On Both Sides Of The Anahuar, And Had Observed and Learned enough

To Make Him Love "These Children Of Nature." So Much Was I Pleased with

Him, That I Offered to Command The Party Which Was To Accompany Him. My

Request Was Granted, And Having Provided ourselves With A Long Tent And

The Necessary Provisions, We Started on Our Journey.

 

 

 

Nothing Remarkable Happened till We Arrived at The Great Chasm I Have

Already Mentioned, When, Our Provisions Being Much Reduced, We Pitched

The Tent On The Very Edge Of The Chasm, And Dedicated half A Day To

Hunting and Grazing Our Horses. A Few Deer Were Killed, And To Avoid A

Nocturnal Attack From The Wolves, Which Were Very Numerous, We Hung The

Meat Upon The Cross-Pole Inside Of The Tent. The Tent Itself Was About

Forty Feet Long, And About Seven In breadth; Large Fires Were Lighted at

The Two Ends, Piles Of Wood Were Gathered to Feed them During The Night,

And An Old Indian And I Took Upon Us The Responsibility Of Keeping The

Fires Alive Till The Moon Should Be Up.

 

 

 

These Arrangements Being Made, We Spread Our Buffalo-Hides, With Our

Saddles For Pillows, And, As We Were All Exhausted, We Stretched

Ourselves, If Not To Sleep, At Least To Repose. The _Padre_ Amused me,

During The Major Portion Of My Watch, In relating To Me His Past

Adventures, When He Followed the Example Of All The Indians, Who Were

All Sound Asleep, Except The One Watching at The Other Extremity Of The

Tent. This Indian Observed to Me, That The Moon Would Rise In a Couple

Of Hours, And That, If We Were To Throw A Sufficient Quantity Of Fuel On

The Fire, We Could Also Sleep Without Any Fear. I Replenished the Fuel,

And, Wrapping Myself In my Blanket, I Soon