These animals become as tame as dogs, and are of great value to the borderer, as it costs nothing to rear them, and they can be put to any work. For all that the wild horse is greatly detested in the vicinity of a settlement, and many a noble brute has died there with a bullet in its heart. The borderer cannot shut up his horses and mules in stables. They must seek the food which nature offers them in such profusion, and hence they have the gate of liberty always open; but they do not fly, because they do not know what liberty is. But scarce do they see a troop of their wild comrades dash past, ere they dart off too, never again to bow their neck to the plough or the bit. They in such cases become the wildest of the troop, and can always be recognised at its head. My black stallion, whose wildly flowing mane I followed for a long distance over the prairie, had, however, never yet bent his neck beneath the yoke of man, for it displayed too fully the pride and strength which nature imparts to liberty alone on its black curly forehead: these animals had never seen the low roof, the simple palisade of a frontier house, and no fugitive thence had ever complained to them about the fate he had endured.
Czar was beside himself that he was not allowed to join in the race, and tried for a long time to check the speed of the fugitives by his snorts; he danced, threw his croupe from one side to the other, and furiously tore at the bit, but it was all of no use, and serfdom still lay on his broad neck, even though with rosy bonds.
The sun was rather low on the horizon when I found myself about five miles from what seemed to be a very large forest, behind which rose the mountains which I had noticed a few days previously in the azure distance when I took my first glance at this valley. I leapt from my horse, hobbled it, and crawled through the grass after two very old stags, one of which was quietly grazing behind a fallen mosquito tree, while the other, as if it had noticed something, thrust its thick neck over the stump in my direction. I had left my hat with Czar in order to attract less attention, and the sun shone hotly on my head; but what will not a hunter readily endure if it enables him to draw nearer the game? At length there were about one hundred yards between us, and I had reached a small patch of flowering jalap trees which covered me. I raised myself on one arm, and fired, aiming at the head. I saw that the deer was hit close to the heart: it ran about fifty paces with its comrade, and then fell dead.
After reloading, I rode up to the deer and laid in some days' supply of meat, hung it on the saddle, and continued my journey to the forest, which I entered about sunset by a very broad open buffalo path. I was sure that the forest was traversed by a stream, and resolved to seek the latter ere I selected my night quarters. I followed the path with my rifle on the saddle-bow, when suddenly my horse gave a start, and a very old bear entered the path hardly twenty yards ahead of me, stopped, and with its head turned from me, began nibbling at the roots of a few small bushes. It took scarce a moment to raise my rifle and pull the trigger, and in the next I pulled Czar round, and rode for the prairie. On looking round, however, I perceived that the bear had only sprung a few yards after me, and was now half sitting, half lying on the path and showing its savage teeth. When I slowly approached it, I noticed that its fury was heightened with every step I took, and only its inability to rise prevented it from attacking me. I, therefore, rode close up and sent a second bullet through its head. It was a very heavy fat bear, and I was really sorry that I could turn it to so little account.
Not very far from this spot I found the stream, and resolved to pass the night on its bank, as the forest on the other side seemed very extensive, and it was doubtful whether I should find there good provender for my horse. I watered Czar, filled my bottle, and rode back to the bear, from which I cut a paw, the tongue, and some ribs. I then camped in the forest at a spot where the most splendid wild oats awaited my horse. The paw was put to cook in the ashes for the next morning, but the ribs were to make their appearance on the supper table. A roasted bear's rib is indubitably one of the greatest dainties which the desert can offer the hunter, and I enjoyed it the more because I had been riding all day and had eaten nothing since my very early breakfast. A man soon grows used to this mode of life, which is necessary in the case of violent exertion in the hot sun, as it is very easy to bring on a fever by riding with a full stomach.
The night was dark and rendered the light which my fire cast upon the dark green roof above my head all the more attractive, while the giant brightly illumined trunks looked like pillars supporting it. I lay on my tiger skin and amused myself with counting the blood-red funnel-shaped flowers of the bignonia, which swung in long drooping festoons from one tree to the other, and, lit up by my fire, resembled so many red glass lamps. Around me a number of whip-poor-wills strove to outvie each other in uninterruptedly uttering their name, and frequently circled round my fire. At the same time fire-flies and huge glow-worms glistened and flashed in all the bushes, and the rustling of the adjoining stream supplied the music for this Italian night. My eyes gradually closed, the pictures of dreams became more and more blended with those of reality, until a calm sleep fell on me to strengthen and refresh me.
Day was breaking when I opened my eyes, and the scene which had so sweetly lulled me to sleep had faded away: the fire was out, and instead of the glow-worms a grey mist lay over the bushes, the grass around me was very damp and the bear's black hide was silvered over with dew. From all sides the loud chuckling of the turkeys reached me, and I felt a tickling in my forefinger to bend it upon one of these birds: but then I looked at the mountain of flesh which lay before me and rested my rifle again against the tree, and went to the fire to pull the paw out of the ashes. The fire soon burnt brightly, and dispersed the cold damp air around me; I put coffee on and a bear's rib before the fire, led Czar to the stream and refreshed myself and him. Then I returned to the fire, led my horse into the oats, and paid my respects to the bear's paw and rib. The sun was also darting his rays through the trees, when I was ready to start and rode through the stream towards the dense forest.
I rode for about three hours in this labyrinth, passing from one buffalo path to another, until the ground began to grow more uneven, and here and there large masses of rock rose between the trees. I dismounted, and was leading my horse up a narrow path by the side of a great boulder, when I suddenly saw, on raising my head, the entire forest literally covered with wild cattle. I returned to the rock, as a meeting with these most dangerous animals on an impracticable path like this was not desirable, and hanging the bridle over a branch, I again ascended the height in order to convince myself in what direction the cattle were going. The herd passed me bound westward, and I am certain I saw over 300 head pass. These denizens of the desert are the most savage and dangerous animals in Western America. Like the horses of the first Spanish settlements they are runaways, and have now entirely returned to a state of nature. You never see a spotted or black head among them: they are all chestnut with black extremities, and a yellow stripe down the back, and are more lightly and gracefully built than our cattle, and as rapid as deer. They shun man, but when startled or excited, they attack with the most frightful courage and obstinacy, and I would sooner defend myself on foot with a bowie knife against a black bear than with a rifle against a furious bull of this description. I remained for about an hour behind the rock before the last of the herd had disappeared between the trees, after which I rode across their deeply trampled path, and soon found myself on the edge of the forest.
From this point gradually rose a bald desolate mountain range that ran from east to west, and whose base was covered with bad grass and a few scattered granitic rocks. These mountains, the San Saba, are spurs of the Rocky Mountains, which I had already noticed from the elevation, where the granite follows on the limestone. I might calculate on wandering about there for weeks before again reaching watered valleys. Hence I resolved to alter my course and go farther east, until I reached the mountains which were the source of all the streams I had lately crossed, and return home along their base.
On this side of the forest the soil was too bad to produce good grass, hence I looked about for a buffalo path by which I could cross it again in a southern direction. These eternally wandering buffaloes, however, appeared to avoid the sterile mountains, and though here and there a lightly trodden path entered the forest, it was not open enough to be followed by a horseman. It was already noon, and I was still on the outside of the forest, when I noticed a tolerably beaten path in an angle where the forest jutted out farther into the mountains. I was very glad of it. Indescribable was the feeling of comfort when I reached the dense shade of the first trees: I threw my leathern jacket over the saddle, hung my hat by its side, and followed the path which ran between the rocks that rose among the trees and led deeper into the forest.