Without resting we rode the whole day, and had only now and then opportunity to water our horses at standing pools, till the sun sank beneath the western prairie, and we could scarce recognise to the south the blue outline of the woods on Canadian River. Darkness very rapidly spread over the plain around us, while the sky was still red over the departed sun, and in the east a pale yellow patch on the horizon announced the rising moon. Our horses had fallen into a swinging walk, when the new light appeared above the prairie and rose like a glowing ball above us, while the clouds were gradually lit up by its silvery light. A fiery shower of fire-flies glistened over the extensive plain, and in front of us lightning flashes in the distant southern heavens every now and then displayed to us the dark contour of the forest which we were approaching. It was not far from ten o'clock when we unloaded our wearied animals on the skirt of the forest near the long-looked for river, and camped close to our savage friends. After supper no long time was granted to conversation, for each soon sought his bed to rest after the exertions of the ride. The next morning Pahajuka, his squaw, and daughter, again shared our breakfast, and then prepared to go on, while we resolved to rest for the day. The two old people were very sorry at being obliged to leave us, but promised, without fail, to come to my house after the great council on Puerco River and remain some time. Tahtoweja tried by laughing to hide the tears which glistened in her long lashes as I helped her on her pony and bade her good-bye. She gave me a small leathern pocket very artistically worked in beads which hung from her belt, while she was unable for her sobs to utter the words she wished to say. She pointed to my eyes, then to the parcel in my hand, laid her little hand on her heart, and said—Tahtoweja. Once again she offered me her hand, and then hastened to join her grandparents, who were already leading the file behind the fire-bearer.
Carrying fire from one camp to the other appears to be a custom peculiar to most of the savage tribes in this country. They halt on the last elevation, whence they can look back at the deserted spot, lay a still smoking brand on the ground, wave a farewell across, and then try, by swinging and blowing the brand, to keep it alight as long as possible: on a long ride they naturally do not bring it burning into the new camp.
We halted this day on the northern Canadian River in order to rest our cattle, which had the most splendid pasture here, and the next morning marched south again. Toward evening we reached a spring which ran out of a low range of hills. Here we found a pleasant camping spot, and followed the course of this stream on the following day to the Southern Canadian River, on whose bank we unsaddled, after crossing it with much difficulty. From this point we altered our course, as we went up stream, in order to reach its springs, the southernmost of which well up in the Sacramento Mountains, at the point where the latter form a low pass which separates them from the mountain chain which runs parallel with the Puerco river, in nearly a southern direction, to the San Saba Mountains, and form an extensive rich valley between themselves and the former river. On the western side of the Puerco, between it and the Rio Grande, with which it also runs parallel, again rise large ranges, forming beautiful valleys toward both rivers, until the former river falls into the Rio Grande at the western end of the San Saba Mountains. All these rich regions on both sides of the Puerco as far as the Rio Grande and the western settlements in Texas, the Comanches and Mescaleros regard as their property, and only tolerate there a few of the civilized tribes, such as the Delawares, Kickapoos, &c., because they fear them, and do not care to be engaged in war with them.
This district is indubitably by far the finest in the whole of the States, as regards richness of soil and climate, as here tropical and northern vegetation are blended. The banana, the cocoa-nut, the orange, the plum, the apple, and the cherry flourish, and vines spread over all the woods: the soil in the valleys is extraordinarily rich and productive during the whole year. The pasturage is incomparable, and cannot be equalled in the whole world: it is covered with the splendid musquito grass, which remains green and juicy in winter as in summer, and sooner or later these valleys will support as many domestic animals instead of the countless herds of wild creatures now living there. The climate is magnificent; the great summer heat is rendered endurable by the cooling winds from the Gulf of Mexico, while the winter has no long lasting rain, and a very slight frost is only felt rarely, just before daybreak. There is no visible cause for diseases, as there are no swamps, and the forests as well as the prairies consist of undulating land, from which the water left by heavy showers or inundations of the rivers quickly recedes. The region is abundantly traversed by the clearest streams, which well up in the neighbouring granite mountains, and through their remarkably rapid fall render it an easy task to irrigate the surrounding land should ever a drought occur. The great variety of plains, hills, mountains, and the most luxuriant vegetation in the virgin forests as well as on the plains, impart to these regions remarkable picturesque attractions which are heightened by the transparency of the atmosphere, the dark blue sky, and the peculiar light effects.
Our road now ran along the south side of the Canadian River to the west, and in a few days the Sacramento Mountains rose before us. We reached an affluent of this river, on which some miles farther up the iron stone was said to lie with which Tiger told us the god of hunting had killed a Weico. As it would not take us very far out of our course if we rode to it, I requested Tiger to lead us to it. Before sunset we reached a prairie, round which the little wooded stream ran in a semicircle, and saw in the centre of it the stone rising about three feet out of the short grass. It was a meteorite of enormous size; its circumference on the plane measured twelve feet, and it did not rest on rock; it must have sunk a great distance into the ground, although the latter is excessively hard on the prairie. It had considerable magnetic power, was of a dark rust colour, and so hard that it cost us great difficulty to knock off a few splinters with the back of our axes. It is certainly the largest stone of this sort in existence—at least the largest I know are much smaller, and it would repay the trouble and expense to fetch it from this desert and convey it to some museum.
We slept here for the night, and had to hear several times the story of the Weico who was slain with this stone. The next morning we left the river, marching westward along the mountains, and camped again on the banks of Canadian River. For about a week we followed this course, to the spurs of the Sacramento Mountains, where we left the river, and went along the former to the south, until in a fortnight we reached the sources of the Red River, which flow from the eastern slopes of these mountains. We rode up them to their source among the granite rocks, where we found at a considerable height a splendid camping place, on which we found the remains of several Indian camps, made by foot Indians, who do not carry large tents with them. They consisted of long thin sticks, four or six of which were crossed and had both ends stuck in the ground; over these sticks they hang skins, and thus obtain a decent shelter against rain and cold. A much-trodden path led on the north side of this stream to the camp, and from here ran up to the saddle of the hill, and thence, as Owl and Tiger told us, down it to the south, over the San Saba range, to the sources of the Rio de las Mires, which stream falls into the Gulf of Mexico at Corpus Christi. This is one of the oldest connecting paths of the Indians between the northern lands of the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf, and proves by the depth it is worn in the rock that it has been used since the earliest period by these wanderers as well as the four-footed denizens of the desert.
The springs at which we camped welled up under immense granite crags, which rose in terraces, and formed in front of them a small basin in which they collected and flowed in a rivulet through the plain on which our cattle were grazing, and thence to the wide prairies which we had recently crossed. Around us lay large masses of rock, which had probably fallen from the heights, between which the path wound upwards. On the east we gazed at the immense plains through which Canadian River marked its course by the rich woods that overshadowed it, and at our feet we looked into savage gorges, from which here and there small patches of grass and scrub peeped out, and a few enormous cypresses raised their gigantic branches, inviting the wanderer in these deserts to enjoy a fresh draught in their shade, as these noble trees only flourish in the vicinity of water.
Day had scarce broken on the next morning, when we prepared breakfast, and the sun had not risen over the eastern horizon, and the valleys were still covered with mist, when we were already mounted and going up the path, to take advantage of the cool of the morning, as during the day we might calculate on great heat upon these barren rocks. The morning was splendid. The fresh, cool mountain breeze refreshed us, and every plant, every blade of grass between the rocks seemed to enjoy the treat. We had ascended a considerable height when the sun spread its beams over the earth. Our path ascended from hill to hill, till at about ten o'clock we reached a barren table-land, which in some parts was broad and others narrow, and overshadowed by crags. The landscape on either side of us was remarkably fine, and frequently the crags in our immediate vicinity offered very pretty pictures. When we drew near the western slopes, we looked down into luxuriant valleys on both sides of the Puerco, as far as the hilly range which divided that river from the Rio Grande, or a distance of from 150 to 200 miles. Farther south, in the valley on this side of the river, was an isolated mountain, whose peak ascended to the clouds, and which the Indians called the Guadaloupe Mountain. When our road ran nearer the eastern slopes, or the plateau along which we were riding became narrower, our eyes rested on the rich grasslands to the south of the river in the vicinity of the Salt Lake we had passed on our journey, as well as on the numerous streams which spring up on the eastern side of our mountains, and flow, some to the Brazos, others to the Colorado. It was now very hot, however, in spite of the violent breeze; but a rest without any shade could not refresh us. The stony strata along which we rode, and which at times were deeply trodden in, reflected the sunbeams and rendered the heat almost unendurable; our animals dripped with perspiration, and trotted on with hanging heads, as if anxious to get away from this glowing surface. Nowhere, however, did we see a spot to receive us in its shade, as the sun was vertical, and the few lofty rocks we passed cast no shadow. No path ran on either side downwards, which might afford us hopes of reaching water, and the few cypresses which indicated it to us were too far down in the bottoms for us to attempt to get to them. Our cattle became more and more tired, and at last hardly able to move, when the sun had sunk a long way on the western horizon. We halted several times in the shadow of large rocks to let our cattle breathe, and gave them the juicy pear-shaped fruit of the cactus, which grew here abundantly, and they eagerly devoured it. My comrades also ate them contrary to my advice, and several of them became very unwell in consequence. Such a rest could not do us much good, and so we continually urged our horses on, till after passing about sunset between tremendous crags, we found a broad path, which soon wound down the eastern slope, when about a mile farther on we saw a copse of low cypresses. With great delight we accepted their invitation, and followed the path which ran into a small glen, where we found good grass and splendid spring-water.
Here, too, we found the traces of several Indian camps, some of which seemed to be quite recent. The few halting-places in the vicinity of this mountain path are well known to the savages who go over these mountains, and are used by them like hotels by travellers in the civilized world. We kept up a large fire during the night, as we here heard for the first time the howls of the jaguars rising from the valley to us, so soon as darkness lay over the earth. We allowed our cattle to graze till far into the night, when they lay down, and we brought them near our fire and slept quietly till dawn.
The sun had scarce risen, when we left this spot and hastened back to the road across the ridge. Our cattle walked quickly along the path in the cool morning breeze, and at about nine o'clock Guadaloupe hills lay to the north-west, while the western mountains on the opposite side of the Puerco opened, and allowed us a view through a broad pass of the Rio Grande and Paso del Norté. This is the only easily accessible pass through the Cordilleras, through which, too, ere many years elapse, the locomotive will snort from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Between this pass and the mountains on which we were standing, stretched out the rich green valleys on both sides of the Puerco, and through it we saw in the extreme distance the blue contour of the mountain ranges beyond the Rio Grande. Though it was so grand up here, we longed to be down below on the banks of the Puerco, and resolved to seize the first opportunity of descending afforded us by a direct path. During the whole day, however, we only found indistinct traces where buffaloes had descended the western slopes, till at about four P.M. we found a very practicable path, which crossed ours from east to west, and which we went down. It was at places so steep that we were obliged to lead our horses, and the latter slipped down on their hind-quarters after us: then again it wound round crags, past precipices, and between isolated peaks, up hill and down, until about sunset we reached, greatly fatigued, a rivulet, upon which our cattle greedily fell. The path ran down from the spring, and we followed it for about half an hour, till about nightfall we reached a small leafy coppice, in which we camped. Tiger and Owl were of opinion that the path led down to the valley, as it ran past the springs, and because a path corresponding with it had run down the eastern side of the mountains.