CHAPTER XIV.
MOUNTAINS.
It was on a bright healthy morning in November that I, accompanied by Tiger and Trusty, left the fort, and rode down the river toward the Rio Grande Mountains. I had never made any excursions far beyond that river, and even when hunting had rarely reached its banks, as it is enclosed on both sides by savage rocky mountains, which neither man nor brute can easily traverse. Tiger had formerly been several times on the other side of the Rio Grande, and told me there was more game, and more especially more bears there, while rich valleys ran between the mountains. Hence I resolved to spend some weeks in those regions, and provided myself for this tour with provisions, some buffalo robes, and a small tent, which articles were carried by Jack, a most excellent mule. The animal followed my horse without being led, and I may say that it could not be kept away from it except by force. We had no trouble with it but to saddle and load it in the morning, and take off its burden again at night. It would certainly stop now and then at a fresh patch of grass and snatch a few mouthfuls, but then it galloped after us again and followed at our heels.
We rested at noon at the mountain springs, which I had not visited for some time, and we were forced to cut an entrance into the little thicket, as it was completely overgrown. They rewarded us on our arrival with some fat turkeys, which were never absent there, and whose delicate meat we enjoyed, while our horses rested from their hot march over the open prairies. About 3 P.M. we started again, and rode in a northern direction toward the foot of the mountains, as Tiger told me that higher up a river ran towards the Rio Grande, with a rather broad valley on either side, and I believed that this stream must be Turkey Creek. We crossed the Leone toward evening at a shallow spot well known to me. This spot, at which I had often rested, surprises the traveller coming from the open prairie with a very pleasant scene. Bordered on both sides by the grandest vegetation, magnolias, plane-trees, and enormous oaks covered with the most splendid creepers, the foaming silvery stream dashes between scattered masses of rock, with such a roar that visitors can hardly understand each other. The atmosphere beneath these dense masses of foliage is cool and constantly fanned by the breeze produced by the violent motion of the current as it breaks on the rocks, and falls over them in countless small cascades.
When we arrived the scene was enlivened by silver herons and flamingos, some soaring high in air, others standing on the dry rocks jutting out of the water, and forming a striking contrast with their white and green plumage against the dark green background. We cautiously guided our horses between the rocks, while Jack followed close behind, and the birds raised a hoarse croak of surprise over our heads. The primeval forest on the other side of the stream is broad, and day had yielded the supremacy to night, as we moved along the buffalo path which was only at intervals illumined by the moon. I knew here nearly every step, and we reached the prairie all right, when we remounted, and half an hour later reached the equally familiar sources of a stream which falls into the Leone a little lower down.
It was a favourite spot of mine, where we took the load off our animals. A cheerful fire soon blazed and threw its light upon them, while they lay in the young grass around us. The moon had not set when we had finished supper and fell into a refreshing sleep. The eastern sky was already tinged with red, when I woke and saw several spits with meat already put before the fire. The horses were grazing round our camp, but I missed Tiger, whose weapons lay on his buffalo hide. I went a little way round the bushes, and saw him on the open prairie on his knees with folded hands and uplifted face, awaiting the appearance of the sun, in order to offer his adoration to it. I heard him speaking softly to himself as it sent its first beams towards us, and he continued his prayer till it had fully risen above the horizon; then he rose, and with a pleasant smile came back to his seat at the fire. He then produced his small mirror and box of vermilion, laid the former on his crossed knees and painted his face, as he supposed, very grandly; then he arranged his splendid hair with a comb I had given him, rubbed it with bear's grease and tied it up with strips of red leather.
During breakfast Tiger told me about his last tour in the Rocky Mountains; of the mountains covered with eternal snow; the beautiful valleys containing famous pasturage; his fight with a desperate grizzly bear, which he killed, &c., and accompanied his words with the most animated gestures. It is a peculiarity of Indians to enliven their remarks with signs and gestures which render it easy to understand what they say; and Tiger, in spite of his knowledge of English, had retained the sign language, which had grown habitual to him. I remarked that I felt a great inclination to take a trip there in the next spring, and he was delighted at the prospect of being allowed to accompany me.
It was late when we started, and continued our journey in a northern direction. The prairies here grew narrower; the woods closer connected, and the country more uneven. Although we kept as far as we could from the mountains on our left, we crossed small streams, which either came down from the mountains and went to form the larger streams, with which they flowed through the hills to the Rio Grande, or which had their sources in the eastern plateaus, and pursued the same course. The country was picturesque; the small prairies, beset by clusters of bushes and clumps of trees of the most varying shapes, were covered with juicy fresh grass and a quite new flora; here and there huge blocks rose out of it, in whose crevices grew large yuccas and mimosas of different sorts, cactuses and aloes, which represented the southern world of plants; on the left the hills rose over each other in terraces, and indicated the course of the large river.
We had ridden the whole morning and not fired a shot at game, although we had seen a good deal. Our fresh meat was quite finished, and I was just saying to Tiger that it would soon be time to shoot something as the dinner hour was at hand, when I saw turkeys running in a small scrubby patch ahead of us, and made Trusty a sign to follow them. In an instant he put them up, but as a dense forest rose just before us, they all but one entered its impenetrable foliage. The latter, an old cock, rose straight in the air, and settled on the top of a very tall cypress which grew on the skirt of the forest, and whose roots were washed by a small spring. It waved backwards and forwards on the thin branch, as if challenging the hunter who would dare to fire at it, while Trusty leapt up at it and barked loudly. Tiger looked at me laughingly, pointed upwards, and asked, "What do you think?" I gave him a nod to try his luck. He sprang from the piebald, took a long aim, fired, and the cock did not stir, but continued to oscillate and look down at Trusty. I felt an itch to try my skill. I sprang from my horse, raised my rifle, and with the detonation the haughty bird opened its wings for the last time, fell like a ball and smote the ground heavily. Tiger laughed, and said that he would have brought it down too, if it had not swung so on the bough. It is a curious fact that the Indians armed with rifles, and even the Americans, never think of firing when the object is moving at all quickly, although they have so many opportunities of practising it. The chief motive may lie in the very long and heavy guns they carry, which cannot be moved so rapidly and lightly as our rifles.
We could not have chosen a better spot than this for our mid-day rest, as our horses found the best grass, the clearest spring water flowed close past us, and the virgin forest offered us its cool shade. We therefore quickly unsaddled, hobbled our horses, and set to work cooking the turkey. We unwillingly left this pleasant spot a few hours later, and were obliged to ride a couple of miles up the forest before we found a buffalo path wide enough for us to pass through. For about an hour we rode through the leafy labyrinth, ere we reached the open plain again on the other side. Here Tiger rode up to me again, and talking and jesting, we kept our horses at a brisk amble, while Jack trotted after us.
Suddenly I heard a "hugh!" from Tiger's lips, and pointing to the ground before us he stopped and said that the buffalo dung on the path was quite fresh and the animals must be in the vicinity. He galloped on and we soon reached a narrow wood, which ran through the prairie in nearly the same direction we were following, and through whose centre ran a small stream. We had scarcely reached this wood ere Tiger leapt from his horse, pointed to the ground before us, then pointed to his ears, and made a motion with his hands as if breaking a stick. He sprang away with the lightness of an antelope, scarce touching the ground with his toes, and never treading on a branch, which might produce a sound; then he suddenly stopped, lowered his head slightly and listened for some minutes. After which he shot ahead again at such a pace that I could hardly keep up with him. He presently lay down on the ground and made me a sign with his hand that the buffaloes were entering the water just under us, and were going across to the prairie. In a few minutes he leapt up again, signed to me to follow him, and flew down the wood, through the stream, and up the other bank, where we arrived behind the last bush on the prairie, just as the buffaloes had only gone a few yards along it, and two of them were standing on the other side of the bush and staring intently at us.
We both had our rifles raised and I gave Tiger a nod to fire first. I kept the sight between the eyes of the buffalo, standing on the right, and as the flame poured from Tiger's gun, I fired and ran round the bush to be able to use the other barrel; but it was unnecessary, for the two gigantic animals were rolling on the ground at the last gasp. Tiger's buffalo was shot through the heart, and the bullet had smashed the skull of mine. We hurried to our horses and packed the best bits of our ample booty on faithful Jack's back.
The sun was not very high above the mountains, but it was too early to spend the night here. Our cattle had rested a little, and so we merely allowed them to drink, filled our own bottles, and rode merrily on in a northern course. Tiger was remarkably colloquial on this evening, and the time slipped away and we scarce noticed that the night had spread its dark wings over the road, which now wound between conical barren hills. I remarked to my comrade that we should have a hard camp, which he denied, and moving his hand across a long chain of hills in front of us, he said that we should sleep softly on the other side of it. While saying this he laid his cheek on his hand and closed his eyes.
It was late when we reached this chain of hills. The mountain side was very steep; although we selected the lowest spot to cross, we were obliged to dismount and lead our horses. Our foothold grew more and more uncertain on the loose pebbles, and our horses, too, were obliged to exert themselves in clambering over the many large stones with which the ravine was covered.
While we were clambering on in this way, Trusty suddenly growled, trotted a few yards past us with bristling hair, and then barked into the depths behind us. Tiger said a jaguar was following us, and put his rifle under his arm. We at length reached the top, where we let our animals breathe, and looked back for a long time at the valley behind us, but could see nothing of our pursuer, although Trusty continued to growl. We marched along the top, which soon sloped down and allowed us a glance at the valley on the other side. The slope was not so steep as the one by which we ascended. The valley before us looked gloomy with its black shadows, and its depths were covered with a white strip of fog, while the opposite mountain side, illumined by the moon, glistened with indistinct bluish tones.
We descended the hill, and in an hour reached the grassy damp bottom, where we remounted and shortly after pulled up on the bank of a large river whose other side was bordered by a thick wood. Here we unloaded our cattle and soon sank into the most tranquil sleep, leaving to faithful Trusty the care of our safety. His powerful voice soon awoke us, however, and made us clutch our rifles. We called him back, stirred up our fire, and as we could see nothing of a foe, we fell asleep again. The faithful dog awoke us again several times, but when morning broke, he lay rolled up by the fire, and was fetching up the rest he had lost in the night.
We were up at an early hour, and Tiger found in the dewy grass not far from our camp the trail of a very large jaguar, which had prowled round it during the night and disquieted Trusty. We bathed in the deep clear river, then breakfasted and set out again. The river flowed westward through a rather wide vale, bounded on the north by a wood, on our side by rich prairies, while a range of bald conical shaped lime hills ran along either side. Judging from its distance from the Leone, this river could only be Turkey Creek, on whose banks I had spent that stormy night with the unhappy botanist. We followed its windings westward for several hours, crossing a number of small streams which came down from the ravines. The valley was here considerably broader than at the spot where we passed the night, but in front of us the hills approached each other again; then the river turned a little westward and afforded a prospect between the rocks of the western cedar-grown banks of the Rio Grande.
The prairie over which we rode led us to the banks of this large river, which runs at a depth of at least fifty feet between the widest masses of rock. At this time it contained very little water, as it does not begin to swell to any extent till January, and we at once made preparations to cross it. We selected from the quantity of dry driftwood, with which the steep bank was covered, pieces of light cedar-wood, bound them together as a small raft, and anchored it to a great tree trunk on the bank. We laid our provisions, saddle-bags, and clothes upon it, and Tiger leapt in the very rapid stream, holding the loose end of the lasso between his teeth, and swam to an island covered with willows, which lay about fifty yards from our bank. When he had swam so far as to haul the lasso taut, I thrust the raft off, and it rapidly followed the current behind Tiger, who, however, guided it to this island and landed about two hundred yards lower down. Then he went to the end of the island, dragging the raft after him, and pulled it into the calmer water on the other side. Then he threw the lasso over his shoulders, and easily pulled the raft to the other bank, where he fastened it to some heavy driftwood. He was soon back by my side. I hung my holsters over my shoulders, took rifle in hand, and we flew on our horses down the stream obliquely till we reached the island, which we soon crossed and guided our horses into the quieter water on the other side. We landed on the western bank of the river at the moment when Jack, who had reached the island, uttered a frightful bray of delight, while looking over at the horses: then he cautiously entered the river again, and soon trotted up to his comrades, who enjoyed the scanty grass that grew on the bank while we were dressing.
As it was noon, and high time to eat something, we lit a fire a little higher up the hills under a leafy plane, and prepared our meal, while I reclined on my buffalo robe and gazed in delight at the wildly romantic scene that was expanded before me. The very deep river bed, cut in limestone strata, is very wide higher up, so that the river, when swollen in spring by the mountain torrents, quite fills it up, and attains a width of half a mile. On both sides of the bed rise grey masses of rock in the wildest shapes, leaving yawning ravines between them, through which the torrents flow to the river. The mountains on the eastern side are generally bare, and bushes only grow in these narrow valleys, out of which a solitary cypress here and there raises its crown to heaven: the western heights, on the contrary, are covered with dense cedar woods, whose dark lustreless foliage, added to the grey steep precipices, imparts a saddening and gloomy aspect to the scenery. In face of us, however, opened between a lofty rock gate the pleasant valley of Turkey Creek, through which we had come. Foaming and roaring, it leaps over gigantic strata of stone into the deep bed of the Rio Grande; while on its south side, far up the valley, the prairie glistens with its fresh verdure, and on the north the dark shadows of a colossal virgin forest run along the mountain range.
We took leave of these banks for a short period, and marched up a steep ravine to the dark shade of the cedar woods, which soon offered us their agreeable coolness. The mountains here were of a conical shape, and so closely overgrown with not very tall cedars, that we were compelled to dismount on our buffalo path—although it had been used by the Indians on their expeditions for centuries—in order to get along at all. Never in my life did I grow so tired of a road; it seemed as if we rode round every hill, and after we had ridden for an hour and had a prospect eastward for a second, the wild rocky valley of the Rio Grande lay at our feet just as if we had but just left it. But a perfectly new and beautiful flora rewarded me for the monotonous, slow ride; in these shadows grew a number of exquisite plants, whose seeds I collected to transfer them to my home.
We had been marching for three hours through these woods, when the country became clearer, the mountains formed into large masses, and the valleys between grew wider. It was twilight, and we had, as I thought, surmounted the last short but steep rise, when Czar suddenly darted back, and a jaguar appeared about thirty yards ahead, gazed at me for a moment, lay down flat on the grass, and drew up its hind legs for a spring. This did not take an instant; and I had pointed my rifle over the neck of my rearing steed at my enemy, when it made its first leap. At this moment I fired, but heard simultaneously the crack of another rifle behind me. Czar turned round at my shot, and almost leapt on Tiger, who was standing behind me on foot, and then darted down the hill. I shouted to him to stop my horse, and saw the jaguar appear on the top of the steep. I sent my second bullet through its chest, and it rolled down toward me in the most awful fury. I called Trusty to me, and fired a couple of revolver shots into the gigantic body of my foe, which ere long gave up the ghost with savage convulsions. My first bullet had passed through its left side; but Tiger's had seriously hurt the spine behind the left shoulder. Tiger's shot had certainly gained the victory, as it robbed the brute of its springing power, and it caused him great delight when I acknowledged his victory, and surrendered to him the fine large skin, which I bought of him on the same evening for a number of trifles to be delivered when we returned home.
It was rather dark when I lit a large fire, and we set to work stripping off the fine spotted skin of the royal beast. As it was very uncertain whether we should find water, we unsaddled, hobbled the cattle, and put on the coffee water to boil. We soon had the jaguar's huge skin off, and hung it stretched on young cedar branches, on a tree close to the fire to dry. Then we prepared supper, drank coffee, and ere long were asleep near our horses, while Trusty patrolled round camp.
A splendid morning awoke us from our dreams and displayed to us the wild but beautiful scenery we had noticed on the previous evening. We had camped at the entrance of a plateau, bordered on the east by the cedar-clad hills sloping down to the Rio Grande, while on the west a chain of large mountains ran northward. The plateau was abundantly covered with grass, but its surface did not display the same monotony as those lying to the east of the Rio Grande; it was covered with patches of wood, and here and there huge masses of rock arose. We marched northward, and as the mountains to the west appeared to us too difficult, we soon crossed a splendid small stream where we watered our horses and filled our flasks. For three days we followed its course through this park; at times over fresh green prairies, at others through thick woods or cañons. We met a great many antelopes and deer, but only saw a few buffaloes at a great distance. Among others Tiger pointed out to me a buffalo on the western mountain side, and said it was lying on the ground. After repeated search I managed to discover a small black dot in the direction indicated, and when I called my glass to my help I really saw an old solitary buffalo lying there among the rocks, and was astonished at the extraordinary sight of my young Indian friend.
