MY FRIENDS THE RAGGETS--OUR PROPOSED MIGRATION--JOURNEY COMMENCED--
ATTACK OF THE INDIANS--A SHOT THROUGH MY LEG--HORRIBLE ANTICIPATIONS--
HIDE IN A BUSH--CLIMB A TREE--MY THOUGHTS IN MY CONCEALMENT--LISTEN IN
EXPECTATION OF AN ATTACK--STARVING IN THE MIDST OF PLENTY--SOME ONE
APPROACHES--I PREPARE TO FIRE.
In few countries can more exciting adventures be met with than in Mexico
and the southern and western portions of North America; in consequence
of the constantly disturbed state of the country, the savage disposition
of the Red Indians, and the numbers of wild animals, buffaloes, bears,
wolves, panthers, jaguars, not to speak of alligators, rattlesnakes, and
a few other creatures of like gentle nature. My old school-fellow, Dick
Onslow, has just come back from those regions; and among numerous
incidents by flood and field sufficient to make a timid man's hair stand
on end for the rest of his days, he recounted to me the following:--
After spending some time among those ill-conditioned cut-throat fellows,
the Mexicans, I returned to the States. Having run over all the settled
parts, of which I got a tolerable bird's-eye view, I took it into my
head that I should like to see something of real backwoodsman's life.
Soon getting beyond railways, I pushed right through the State of
Missouri till I took up my abode on the very outskirts of civilisation,
in a log-house, with a rough honest settler, Laban Ragget by name. He
had a wife and several daughters and small children, and five tall sons,
Simri, Joab, Othni, Elihu, and Obed, besides two sisters of his wife's
and a brother of his own, Edom Ragget by name. I never met a finer set
of people, both men and women. It was a pleasure to see the lads walk
up to a forest, and a wonder to watch how the tall trees went down like
corn stalks before the blows of their gleaming axes. They had no idea I
was a gentleman by birth. They thought I was the son of a blacksmith,
and they liked me the better for it.
Some months passed away; I had learned to use my axe as well as any of
them, and a fine large clearing had been made, when the newspapers, of
which we occasionally had one, told us all about the wonderful
gold-diggings in California. At last we talked of little else as we sat
round the big fire in the stone chimney during the evenings of winter.
Neighbours dropped in and talked over the matter also. There was no
doubt money was to be made, and quickly too, by men with strong arms and
iron constitutions. We all agreed that if any men were fit for the
work, we were. I was the weakest of the party, do ye see? (Dick stands
five feet ten in his shoes, and is as broad-shouldered as a dray man.)
Just then, an oldish man with only two stout sons and a small family
drove into the forest with a light wagon and a strong team of horses, to
look about him, as he said, for a location. He came to our house, and
Laban and he had a long talk.
"Well, stranger," said Laban, "I guess you couldn't do better than take
my farm, and give me your team and three hundred dollars; I've a mind to
go further westward."
The offer was too good to be refused. The bargain was struck, and in
two days, several other settlers having got rid of their farms, a large
party of us were on our way to cross the Rocky Mountains for California.
The women, children, and stuff were in Laban's two wagons. Other
settlers had their wagons also. The older men rode; I, with the
younger, walked, with our rifles at our backs, and our axes and knives
in our belts. I had, besides, a trusty revolver, which had often stood
me in good stead.
We were not over-delicate when we started, and we soon got accustomed to
the hard life we had to lead, till camping-out became a real pleasure
rather than an inconvenience. We had skin tents for the older men, and
plenty of provisions, and as we kept along the banks of the rivers, we
had abundance of grass and water for the horses. At last we had to
leave the forks of the Missouri river, and to follow a track across the
desolate Nebraska country, over which the wild Pawnees, Dacotahs,
Omahas, and many other tribes of red men rove in considerable numbers.
We little feared them, however, and thought much more of the herds of
wild buffaloes we expected soon to have the pleasure both of shooting
and eating.
We had encamped one night close to a wood near Little Bear Creek, which
runs into the Nebraska river. The following morning broke with wet and
foggy weather. It would have been pleasant to have remained in camp,
but the season was advancing, and it was necessary to push on. All the
other families had packed up and were on the move; Laban's, for a
wonder, was the last. The women and children were already seated in the
lighter wagon, and Obed Ragget and I were lifting the last load into the
other, and looking round to see that nothing was left behind, when our
ears were saluted with the wildest and most unearthly shrieks and
shouts, and a shower of arrows came whistling about our ears. "Shove
on! shove on!" we shouted to Simri and Joab, who were at the horses'
heads; "never mind the tent." They lashed the horses with their whips.
The animals plunged forward with terror and pain, for all of them were
more or less wounded. We were sweeping round close to the edge of the
wood, and for a moment lost sight of the rest of the party. Then, in
another instant, I saw them again surrounded by Indian warriors, with
plumes of feathers, uplifted hatchets, and red paint, looking very
terrible. The women were standing up in the wagon with axes in their
hands, defending themselves bravely. A savage had seized one of the
children and was dragging it off, when Mrs Ragget struck with all her
might at the red-skin's arm, and cut it clean through; the savage drew
back howling with pain and rage. Old Laban in the meantime, with his
brother and two others, kept in front, firing away as fast as they could
load while they ran on: for they saw if once the redskins could get hold
of the horses' heads, they would be completely in their power. All this
time several of the things were tumbling out of the wagon, but we could
not stop to pick them up. Why the rest of the party, who were ahead,
did not come back to our assistance, I could not tell. I thought that
they also were probably attacked. We four ran on for some way, keeping
the Indians at a respectful distance, for they are cowardly rascals--
notwithstanding all the praise bestowed on them--if courageously
opposed. I was loading my rifle, and then taking aim at four mounted
Indians who appeared on the right with rifles in their hands. They
fired, but missed me, as I meantime was dodging them behind the wagon.
During this, I did not see where Obed was. I hit one of them, and
either Simri or Joab, who fired at the same time, hit another. The
other two wheeled round, and with some companions, hovered about us at
some little distance. Just then, not hearing Obed's voice, I looked
round. He was nowhere to be seen. I was shouting to his brothers to
stop and go back with me to look for him, when half-a-dozen more
Indians, joining the others, galloped up at the same moment to attack
the headmost wagon. Simri and Joab, lashing their horses, rushed on to
the assistance of their family. The savages fired. I was springing on
when I felt myself brought to the ground, grasping my rifle, which was
loaded. A shot had gone right through both my legs. I tried with
desperate struggles to get up, but could not lift myself from the
ground. All the horror of my condition crowded into my mind. To be
killed and scalped was the best fate I could expect. Just as I was
about to give way to despair, I thought I would make an attempt to save
my life. From my companions I could expect no help, for even if they
succeeded in preserving their own lives they would scarcely be in a
condition to come back and rescue me. Poor Obed I felt pretty sure must
have been killed. A small stream with some bushes growing on its banks
was near at hand. I dragged myself towards it, and found a pretty close
place of concealment behind one of the bushes. Thence I could look out.
The wagons were still driving along furiously across the prairie with
the Indians hovering about them on either side, evidently waiting for a
favourable moment to renew the attack. Thus the whole party, friends
and foes, vanished from my sight in the fog. To stay where I was would
only lead to my certain destruction, for when the Indians returned, as I
knew they would, to carry off my scalp, the trail to my hiding-place
would at once be discovered. I felt, too, that if I allowed my wounds
to grow stiff, I might not be able to move at all. Suffering intense
agony, therefore, I dragged myself down into the stream. It was barely
deep enough to allow me to swim had I had strength for the purpose, and
crawl I thought I could not. So I threw myself on my back, and holding
my rifle, my powder-flask, and revolver above my breast, floated down
till I reached the wood we had just passed. The branches of the trees
hung over the stream. I seized one which I judged would bear my weight,
and lifting myself up by immense exertion, of which, had it not been for
the cooling effects of the water, I should not have been capable, I
crawled along the bough. I had carefully avoided as much as possible
disturbing the leaves, lest the redskins should discover my retreat. I
worked my way up, holding my rifle in my teeth, to the fork of the
branch, and then up to where several of the higher boughs branched off
and formed a nest where I could remain without fear of falling off. I
was completely concealed by the thickness of the leaves from being seen
by any one passing below, and I trusted, from the precautions I had
taken, that the Indians would not discover my trail. Still, such
cunning rogues are they, that it is almost impossible to deceive them.
My great hope was that they might not find out that I had fallen, and so
would not come to look for me. As I lay in my nest, I listened
attentively, and thought that I could still hear distant shots, as if my
friends had at all events not given in. Still it might only have been
fancy. My wounds, when I had time to think about them, were very
painful. I bound them up as well as I could--the water had washed away
the blood and tended to stop inflammation. The sun rose high in the
heavens. Not a sound was heard except the wild cry of the eagle or
kite, blending with the song of the thrush and the mocking-bird,
interrupted every now and then by the impudent observation of a stray
parrot and the ominous rattle of a huge snake as it wound its way among
the leaves. Every moment I expected to hear the grunts and cries of the
redskins, as with tomahawk in hand they came eagerly searching about for
me. I durst not move to look around. They might come talking
carelessly, or they might steal about in dead silence, if they suspected
that I was still alive.
I thus passed the day. I did sometimes think that I should have been
wiser had I remained within the bounds of civilisation, instead of
wandering about the world without any adequate motive. The reflection,
too, that the end of my days was approaching, came suddenly upon me with
painful force. How had I spent those days? I asked myself. What good
had I done in the world? How had I employed the talents committed to
me? I remembered a great many things I had been told as a child by my
mother, and which had never occurred to me since. The more I thought,
the more painful, the more full of regrets, grew my thoughts. I am
bound to tell you all this. I am not ashamed of my feelings. I believe
those thoughts did me a great deal of good. I blessed my mother for all
she had taught me, and I prayed as I had never prayed before. After
this I felt much comforted and better prepared for death than I had been
till then. The day passed slowly away. Darkness came on. I grew very
hungry and faint, for I had no food in my pocket, and had taken nothing
since the morning. Had I not been wounded, that would have been a
trifle; I had often gone a whole day without eating, with, perhaps, a
lap of water every now and then from a cool stream. I could not sleep a
wink during the whole night. At times I hoped that if my friends were
victorious they might return to learn what had become of poor Obed and
me. In vain was the hope. The night wore on, the dawn returned. I
tried to stretch my legs; I found that I could not move them.
The hours of the next day passed slowly by; I thought I heard the cries
and shrieks of the redskins in the distance--they seemed to draw nearer
and nearer--they were entering the wood--yes, I was certain of it--they
got close up to my tree--as I looked down, I saw their hideous,
malicious faces gazing up at me, eager for my destruction. Then
suddenly I became aware that they were only creatures of my imagination,
conjured up through weakness and hunger. All was again silent. "If
this state of things continues, I shall certainly drop from my hold," I
thought. Then suddenly I remembered that I had some tobacco in my
pocket. Edom Ragget had handed it to me to cut up for him. I put a
piece in my mouth, and chewed away at it. I felt much better. The
evening came; my apprehensions about the Indians decreased. Still I
knew that if I once got down the tree, I might not be able to ascend it
again, and might become a prey to wild beasts or rattlesnakes, as I felt
that I could not stand for a moment, much less walk a yard. Having
fastened my rifle to a branch, I secured one of my arms round another,
that I might not drop off, and at last fell into a deep sleep. Next
morning I awoke, feeling much better, though very hungry. As I lay
without moving, I observed a racoon playing about a branch close to me.
"Although there may be a hundred red-skins in the neighbourhood, I must
have that fellow for my breakfast," I said to myself. I released my
rifle and fired. Down fell the racoon at the foot of the tree. "He is
of no use to me unless I can get hold of him, and even could I pick him
up, I must eat him raw, as I have no means of lighting a fire where I
am," said I to myself. While this thought passed rapidly through my
mind, I heard a sound at some distance. It was, I felt sure, that of a
human voice. I quickly reloaded my rifle, and, with my finger on the
trigger, sat in readiness for whatever might occur.