The Backwoodsman; Or, Life on the Indian Frontier

by Unknown

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.