"My dear young man," said he, "I will give you a hint, which will enable
you to travel safely through the Arkansas. Beware of pretty girls, and
honest, clever people; never say you are travelling further than from
the last city to the nearest, as a long journey generally implies that
you have cash; and, if possible, never put your horse in a stable.
Farewell."
The soil in the Arkansas is rocky and mountainous as far as to the
western border of the state, when you enter upon the great American
desert, which continues to the other side of the Cimarron, nearly to the
foot of the Cordilleras. The eastern portion of Arkansas, which is
watered by the Mississippi, is an unknown swamp, for there the ground is
too soft even for the light-footed Indian; and, I may say, that the
whole territory, contained between the Mississippi and the St. Francis
river is nothing but a continued river-bottom.
It is asserted, on the authority of intelligent residents, that the
river-bottoms of the St. Francis were not subject to be overflowed
previous to the earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, when an extensive tract in
the valley of that river sank to a considerable depth. According to
Stoddart, who knew nothing of the shocks of 1811, earthquakes have been
common here from the first settlement of the country; he himself
experienced several shocks at Kaskaskia, in 1804, by which the soldiers
stationed there were aroused from sleep, and the buildings were much
shaken and disjointed. Oscillations still occur with such frequency as
to be regarded with indifference by the inhabitants, who familiarly call
them _shakes_. But the earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, which were felt
from New England to New Orleans, are the only ones known to have left
permanent traces, although there is every probability that this part of
the valley of the Mississippi has been much convulsed at former periods.
In 1812, the earth opened in wide chasms, from which columns of water
and sand burst forth; hills disappeared, and their sites were occupied
by lakes; the beds of the lakes were raised, and their waters flowed
off, leaving them dry; the courses of the streams were changed by the
elevation of their beds and the falling of their banks; for one whole
hour the current of the Mississippi was turned backwards towards its
source, until its accumulated waters were able to break through the
barrier which had dammed them up; boats were dashed on the banks, or
suddenly left dry in the deserted channel, or hurried backwards and
forwards with the surging eddies; while in the midst of these awful
changes, electric fires, accompanied by loud rumblings, flashed through
the air, which was darkened with clouds and vapour.
In some places, submerged forests and cane-brakes are still visible at a
great depth, on the bottom of lakes, which were then formed. That the
causes of these convulsions were not local, as some have imagined, is
evident enough from the fact, that the Azores, the West India Islands,
and the northern coast of South America were unusually agitated at the
same time, and the cities of Carracas, Laguayra, and some others were
totally destroyed.
I had been advised not to stop at any house on the borders, and would
have proceeded on to Missouri, bivouacking during the night, had it not
been that the rainy season had just commenced, and it was far from
pleasant to pass the night exposed to the most terrific showers of rain
that could be imagined. When I arrived upon the St. Francis river, I
found myself compelled by the state of the weather to stop at a
parson's--I don't know what particular sect he professed to belong to;
but he was reputed to be the greatest hypocrite in the world, and the
"smartest scoundrel" in the Arkansas.
My horse was put into the stable, my saddle into the hall, and I brought
my saddle-bags into the sitting-room. Then, as usual, I went to the
well for a purification after my day's ride. To my astonishment, I
found, on my return, that my saddle-bags had already disappeared. I had
in them jewels and money to rather a considerable amount for a person in
my position, and I inquired of a woman cooking in the next room what had
become of them. She answered she did not know, but that probably her
father had put them out of the way.
I waited a long while, standing at the door, with no small anxiety, till
at last I perceived the parson crossing an Indian corn-field, and coming
towards the house. I went to meet him, and asked what he had done with
my saddle-bags; to which question he answered angrily, he did not know
what I meant; that I had no saddle-bags when I came to his house; that
he suspected I was a knowing one, but could not come round so old a fox
as he was.
As by that time I was perfectly au fait to all the tricks of Arkansas'
smartness, I returned to the hall, took my pistols from the holsters,
placed them in my belt, and, seizing my rifle, followed his trail upon
the soft ground of the fields. It led me to a corn-house, and there,
after an hour's search, I found my lost saddle-bags. I threw them upon
my shoulders, and returned to the house just as a terrible shower had
commenced. When within fifteen yards from the threshold, the parson,
with his wife and daughter, a pretty girl of sixteen, in tears, came up
to me to apologise. The mother declared the girl would be the death of
her, and the parson informed me, with great humility, that his daughter,
baying entered the room, and seeing the saddle-bags, had taken and
hidden them, believing that they belonged to her sweetheart, who was
expected on a visit. Upon this, the girl cried most violently, saying
she only wished to play a trick to Charley. She was an honest girl, and
no thief.
I thought proper to pretend to be satisfied with this explanation and
ordered my supper, and, shortly afterwards, to my great relief, new
guests arrived; they were four Missourian planters, returning home from
a bear-hunt, in the swamps of the St. Francis. One of them was a Mr
Courtenay, to whom I had a letter from Captain Finn, and, before the day
had closed, I received a cordial invitation to go and stay with him for
at least a week.
As he spoke French, I told him, in that language, my saddle-bag
adventure; he was not surprised, as he was aware of the character of our
host. It was arranged that Mr Courtenay and I should sleep in a
double-bedded room on the first floor; the other hunters were
accommodated in another part of the house. Before retiring for the
night, they all went to visit their horses, and the young girl took that
opportunity to light me to the room.
"Oh, Sir," she said to me, after she had closed the door, "pray do not
tell the other travellers what I did, or they would all say that I am
courting Charley, and my character would be lost."
"Mark me," replied I, "I have already told the story, and I know the
Charley story is nothing but a--what your father ordered you to say.
When I went to the corn-house, the tracks I followed were those made by
your father's heavy boots, and not by your light pumps and small feet.
The parson is a villain; tell him that; and if it were not too much
trouble, I would summon him before some magistrate."
The girl appeared much shocked, and I repented my harshness, and was
about to address her more kindly, when she interrupted me.
"Spare me, Sir," she said, "I know all; I am so unhappy; if I had but a
place to go to, where I could work for bread, I would do it in a minute,
for here I am very, very miserable."
At that moment the poor girl heard the footsteps of the hunters
returning from the stable, and she quitted me in haste.
When Mr Courtenay entered the room, he told me he expected that the
parson was planning some new iniquity, for he had seen him just then
crossing the river in a dug-out. As everything was to be feared from
the rascal, after the circumstance of the saddle-bags, we resolved that
we would keep a watch; we dragged our beds near the window, and laid
down without undressing.
To pass away the time, we talked of Captain Finn and of the Texians.
Mr Courtenay related to me a case of negro stealing by the same General
John Meyer, of whom my fellow companion, the parson, had already talked
so much while we were travelling in Texas. One winter, Mr Courtenay,
returning from the East, was stopped in Vincennes (Indiana) by the depth
of the snow, which for a few days rendered the roads impassable. There
he saw a very fine breed of sheep, which he determined to introduce upon
his plantation; and hearing that the general would be coming down the
river in a large flat boat as soon as the ice would permit, he made an
agreement with him that he should bring a dozen of the animals to the
plantation, which stood a few miles below the mouth of the Ohio, on the
other side of the Mississippi.
Meyer made his bargain, and two months afterwards delivered the live
stock, for which he received the price agreed upon. Then he asked
permission to encamp upon Mr Courtenay's land, as his boat had received
some very serious injury, which could not be repaired under five or six
days. Mr Courtenay allowed Meyer and his people to take shelter in a
brick barn, and ordered his negroes to furnish the boatmen with potatoes
and vegetables of all descriptions.
Three or four days afterwards he was astonished by several of his slaves
informing him the general had been tampering with them, saying they were
fools to remain slaves, when they could be as free as white men, and
that if they would come down the river with him, he would take them to
Texas, where he would pay them twenty dollars a month for their labour.
Courtenay advised them, by all means, to seem to accede to the
proposition, and gave them instructions as to how they were to act. He
then despatched notes to some twenty neighbours, requesting them to come
to the plantation, and bring their whips with them, as they would be
required.
Meyer having repaired his boats, came to return thanks, and to announce
his departure early on the following morning. At eleven o'clock, when
he thought everybody in the house was asleep, he hastened, with two of
his sons, to a lane, where he had made an appointment with the negroes
to meet him and accompany him to his boat, which was ready to start. He
found half-a-dozen of the negroes, and, advising them not to speak
before they were fairly off the plantation, desired them to follow him
to the boat; but, to his astonishment, he soon discovered that the lane
was occupied with other negroes and white men, armed with the
much-dreaded cow-hides. He called out to his two sons to fly, but it
was too late.
The general and his two sons were undoubtedly accustomed to such
disasters, for they showed amazing dexterity in taking advantage of the
angles of the fences, to evade the lashes: but, in spite of all their
devices, they were cruelly punished, as they had nearly a quarter of a
mile of gauntlet to run through before they were clear of the lane. In
vain they groaned, and swore, and prayed; the blows fell thicker and
thicker, principally from the hands of the negroes, who, having now and
then tasted of the cow-hide, were in high glee at the idea of flogging
white men.
The worshipful general and his dutiful sons at last arrived at their
boat, quite exhausted, and almost fainting under the agony! of the
well-applied lashes. Once on board, they cut their cable, and pushed
into the middle of the stream; and although Meyer had come down the
river at least ten times since, he always managed to pass the plantation
during night, and close to the bank of the opposite shore.
I told Mr Courtenay what I knew myself about General John Meyer; while
I was talking, his attention was attracted by a noise near the stables,
which were situated at the bottom of a lane, before our windows. We
immediately suspected that there would be an attempt to steal our
horses; so I handed my rifle to my companion, who posted himself in a
position commanding the lane, through which the thief or thieves must
necessarily pass.
We waited thus in suspense for a few minutes, till Mr Courtenay desired
me to take his place, saying,--"If any one passes the lane with any of
our horses, shoot him; I will go down myself and thrash the blackguard,
for I suspect the parson will turn them into the swamps, where he is
pretty certain of recovering them afterwards."
Saying this, he advanced to the door, and was just putting his hand upon
the latch, when we heard a most terrific yell, which was followed by a
neighing, which I recognised as that of my horse. Taking our pistols
and bowie-knives, we hurried down the lane.
We found that our two horses, with a third, belonging to one of the
hunters, were out of the stable, and tied neck and tail, so as to
require only one person to lead them. The first one had the bridle on,
and the last, which was mine, was in a state of excitement, as if
something unusual had happened to him. On continuing our search, we
found the body of a young man, most horribly mangled, the breast being
entirely open, and the heart and intestines hanging outside.
It appeared that my faithful steed, which had already shown, in Texas, a
great dislike to being taken away from me, had given the thief the
terrible kick, which had thrown him ten or fifteen yards, as I have
said, a mangled corpse. By this time, the other hunters came out to us;
lights were procured, and then we learned that the victim was the
parson's eldest son, newly married, and settled on the east side of the
St. Francis. The parson was not long himself in making his appearance;
but he came from an opposite direction to that of the house, and he was
dressed as on the evening before: he had evidently not been to bed
during that night.
As soon as he became aware of the melancholy circumstance, he raved and
swore that he would have the lives of the damned Frenchman and his
damnation horse; but Mr Courtenay went to him, and said--"Hold your
tongue, miserable man! See your own work, for you have caused this
death. It was to fetch your son, to help you to steal the horses, that
you crossed the river in the dug-out. Be silent, I say; you know me;
look at your eldest-born, villain that you are! May the chain of your
future misery be long, and the last link of it the gibbet, which you
deserve!"
The parson was silent, even when his sobbing wife reproached him. "I
warned thee, husband," she said; "even now has this come, and I fear
that worse is still to come. Unlucky was the hour we met; still more so
when the child was born;" and, leaning against the fence, she wept
bitterly.
I will pass over the remainder of this melancholy scene. We all felt
for the mother and the poor girl, who stood by with a look of despair.
Saddling our horses, Mr Courtenay and I resumed our journey, the
hunters remaining behind till the arrival of the magistrate, whom we
promised to send. To procure one, we were obliged to quit the high
road, and, after a ride of several miles, having succeeded in finding
his house, we awoke him, gave him the necessary directions, and, at
sunrise, forded the river.