Cold and cloudy descended the night, bringing with it the dreaded north wind; I was obliged to lie down without a fire. In order to avoid the bears and panthers, I had climbed up a tree, but the wind was too sharp to make such an airy perch endurable. At length I found a hollow tree, crept in, covered my feet with my game-bag, placed my gun on my left side, and, with my knife in my right hand, I passed one of the most uncomfortable nights of my life. I heard the howling of the wolves, and once the roar of a panther in the distance; but nothing came to disturb me, and the bright morning sun saw me early on the march, for my couch was not inviting enough to detain me. At length, what music to my ears! the crow of a cock and bark of a dog announced the neighborhood of a farm. I soon perceived the thin, blue smoke of a chimney ascending into the beautiful clear sky, and, with a quickened pace made towards it, hoping soon to refresh both body and soul.
The good people gave me such a hospitable reception, and placed so much on the table, that, notwithstanding my fearful appetite, there was a great deal more than I could eat. Fortunately, the farmer had a stock of gunpowder, and filled my powder-horn for a quarter of a dollar.
As I was about to depart, he asked if I would not like to join a shooting party; several of his neighbors were coming this morning to search a thicket not far from his house, where they expected to find a bear which had robbed him of many of his pigs. I did not long hesitate, cleaned my gun, loaded the left hand barrel with ball and the right with buck-shot, and so was ready for any thing. We had not long to wait, and all mounted on horseback. We soon arrived at the spot, and rode round and round it; it was the thickly overgrown bed of a former spring. Suddenly the dogs gave tongue, and immediately afterwards the bear started out of his hiding-place. Eager as we were we could only follow him slowly, on account of the thick underwood; so we hobbled the horses’ fore-legs, and pressed forward on foot.
One of the party soon proclaimed that, judging by the bark of the dogs, the bear must have climbed up a tree. Such proved to be the case, and we had hardly discovered him, when I and one of the farmers fired: both balls had taken effect, but a dull cry was the only consequence: two others of the party coming up, fired. He was mortally wounded, drew himself together, and hung by one paw from the tree; as I hit him on the paw with my buck-shot, he fell, and died under the bites of the dogs, who threw themselves furiously on him. His flesh was savory and tender, but he was not so fat as was expected. I remained the night with these kind people, and set off again on the following morning.
Without any thing further worth noticing, I came, on the 15th March, to the bank of the Great Red river, the boundary between the United States and Texas. A farmer who had a canoe set me over the river, and, following a well-trodden path on the other side, I came to a large slave plantation. The overseer, who directed the labors of the negroes, said at first that he had no room for me to sleep in; but as there was no other house far and wide where I could find shelter, he at last agreed, and I found a sumptuous supper and comfortable bed.
The land near the river was very swampy, and overgrown with thick canes, but the wood became more open and the ground dryer as I left the river. On the evening of the third day, I again slept at a plantation, and this was the last night I passed in a house for some time to come. The overseer lived in a block-house, and all around stood the smaller huts of the slaves, one for each family. During the hours of labor, he carried a heavy whip to keep the blacks in order; yet he did not seem to feel quite safe amongst these poor, ill-treated people, for he had a pair of pistols in his saddle holsters.
An overseer once assured me that the whip was the best doctor for the slaves, and that when any one of them fell sick, he was flogged till he was well again. It might sometimes happen that a poor negro pretended to be sick to get a day or two’s rest; but how often must the really sick slave be most atrociously treated by the inhuman overseer!
From these quarters I marched along fresh and in good spirits into the forest, which already began to look green. The birds sang so sweetly on the branches, that my heart was joyful and mournful at the same time; I longed in vain for a companion, with whom I could exchange thoughts. A shot echoed from the plantation, and innumerable wild geese rose from the cotton-fields behind me; with a deafening noise they formed their usual triangle, and flew all in the same direction.
Luckily for me, I had in my bag a couple of wild ducks that I had killed and roasted the day before. The forest was mortally dull, and the march began to grow rather tedious, for my rambles in the north were still fresh in my memory. I passed the night very pleasantly by a fire, while my hunger took the second duck into consideration.
Towards noon I came to the little river Sulphurfork, which I was obliged to wade through, after many vain attempts to find a shallow place, the water coming up to my chest. I began to despair of getting any thing to eat, and, being thoroughly wet, I resolved to come soon to a halt, and dry myself by a fire, when all at once I saw about fifty deer, within shot, all quietly feeding, and taking no notice of me. For an instant I stood petrified; then every fibre in my body beat and trembled with delight. The suddenness of the sight had so excited me that I could not take aim, and I was obliged to wait to collect myself. It was a glorious sight, such a number of these noble animals together; I counted fifty-seven, and derived particular pleasure from the antics of two fawns, which made the most comical bounds, and came very near me without any suspicion. Regret to kill such a beautiful innocent creature withheld my hand for some time, but hunger was not to be cajoled,—I fired, and one of them fell without a cry. The effect of the report upon the herd was quite ludicrous,—each of the hitherto unsuspicious animals became an image of attention, then fled with immense bounds towards the thicket. As I did not move they stopped again, and began to feed, but not without frequently raising their heads to listen. The impression which the fall of his playfellow had produced on the other fawn was very different. Far from flying, he came nearer, smelt the poor animal as if he thought it was play, setting his fore-foot several times on the body of his comrade as if to induce him to get up. I had the other barrel still loaded, but thought it would be like murder to injure a hair of the little creature.