When autumn has heightened the colouring of the foliage of our woods,
and the air feels more rarefied during the nights and the early part of
the day, the alligators leave the lakes to seek for winter-quarters, by
burrowing under the roots of trees, or covering themselves simply with
earth along their edges. They become then very languid and inactive,
and, at this period, to sit or ride on one would not be more difficult
than for a child to mount his wooden rocking-horse. The negroes, who
now kill them, put all danger aside by separating at one blow with an
axe, the tail from the body. They are afterwards cut up in large
pieces, and boiled whole in a good quantity of water, from the surface
of which the fat is collected with large ladles. One single man kills
oftentimes a dozen or more of large alligators in the evening, prepares
his fire in the woods, where he has erected a camp for the purpose, and
by morning has the oil extracted.
As soon as the rider feels his horse sinking, the first movement, if an
inexperienced traveller, is to throw himself from the saddle, and
endeavour to wade or to swim to the cane-brakes, the roots of which give
to the ground a certain degree of stability. In that case, his fate is
probably sealed, as he is in immediate danger of the "cawana." This is
a terrible and hideous monster, with which, strange to say, the
naturalists of Europe are not yet acquainted, though it is too well
known to all the inhabitants of the streams and lagoons tributary to the
Red River. It is an enormous turtle or tortoise, with the head and tail
of the alligator, not retractile, as is usual among the different
species of this reptile; the shell is one inch and a half thick, and as
impenetrable as steel. It lies in holes in the bottom of muddy rivers
or in the swampy cane-brakes, and measures often ten feet in length and
six in breadth over the shell, independent of the head and tail, which
must give often to this dreadful monster the length of twenty feet.
Such an unwieldy mass is not, of course, capable of any rapid motion;
but in the swamps I mention they are very numerous, and the unfortunate
man or beast going astray, and leaving for a moment the small patches of
solid ground, formed by the thicker clusters of the canes, must of a
necessity come within the reach of one of these powerful creature's
jaws, always extended and ready for prey.
Cawanas of a large size have never been taken alive, though often, in
draining the lagoons, shells have been found measuring twelve feet in
length. The planters of Upper Western Louisiana have often fished to
procure them for scientific acquaintances, but, although they take
hundreds of the smaller ones, they could never succeed to drag on shore
any of the large ones after they have been hooked, as these monsters
bury their claws, head, and tail so deep in the mud, that no power short
of steam can make them relinquish their hold.
Some officers of the United States army and land surveyors, sent on the
Red River by the government at Washington for a month, took up their
residence at Captain Finn's. One day, when the conversation had fallen
upon the cawana, it was resolved that a trial should be made to
ascertain the strength of the animal. A heavy iron hand-pike was
transformed by a blacksmith into a large hook, which was fixed to an
iron chain belonging to the anchor of a small-boat, and as that
extraordinary fishing-tackle was not of a sufficient length, they added
to it a hawser, forty fathoms in length and of the size of a woman's
wrist. The hook was baited with a lamb a few days old, and thrown into
a deep hole ten yards from the shore, where Captain Finn knew that one
of the monsters was located; the extremity of the hawser was made fast
to an old cotton-tree.
Late in the evening of the second day, and as the rain poured down in
torrents, a negro slave ran to the house to announce that the bait had
been taken, and every one rushed to the river side. They saw that, in
fact, the hawser was in a state of tension, but the weather being too
bad to do any thing that evening, they put it off till the next morning.
A stout horse was procured, who soon dragged the hawser from the water
till the chain became visible, but all further attempts of the animal
were in vain; after the most strenuous exertion, the horse could not
conquer the resistance or gain a single inch. The visitors were
puzzled, and Finn then ordered one of the negroes to bring a couple of
powerful oxen, yoked to a gill, employed to drag out the stumps of old
trees. For many minutes the oxen were lashed and goaded in vain; every
yarn of the hawser was strained to the utmost, till, at last, the two
brutes, uniting all their strength in one vigorous and final pull, it
was dragged from the water, but the monster had escaped. The hook had
straightened and to its barb were attached pieces of thick bones and
cartilages, which must have belonged to the palate of the monster.
The unfortunate traveller has but little chance of escaping with life,
if, from want of experience, he is foundered in the swampy cane-brakes.
When the horse sinks and the rider leaves the saddle, the only thing he
can do is to return back upon his track; but let him beware of these
solitary small patches of briars, generally three or four yards in
circumference, which are spread here and there on the edges of the
cane-brakes, for there he will meet with deadly reptiles and snakes
unknown in the prairies; such as the grey-ringed water mocassin, the
brown viper, the black congo with red head and the copper head, all of
whom congregate and it may be said make their nests in these little dry
oases, and their bite is followed by instantaneous death.
These are the dangers attending travellers in the swamps, but there are
many others to be undergone in crossing lagoons, rivers, or small lakes.
All the streams, tributaries of the Sabine and of the Red River below
the great bend (which is twenty miles north of the Lost Prairie), have
swampy banks and muddy bottoms, and are impassable when the water is too
low to permit the horses to swim. Some of these streams have ferries,
and some lagoons have floating bridges in the neighbourhood of the
plantations; but as it is a new country, where government has as yet
done nothing, these conveniences are private property, and the owner of
a ferry, not being bound by a contract, ferries only when he chooses and
at the price he wishes to command.
I will relate a circumstance which will enable the reader to understand
the nature of the country, and the difficulties of overland travelling
in Texas. The great Sulphur Fork is a tributary of the Red River, and
it is one of the most dangerous. Its approach can only be made on both
sides through belts of swampy cane-brakes, ten miles in breadth, and so
difficult to travel over, that the length of the two swamps, short as it
is, cannot be passed by a fresh and strong horse in less than fourteen
hours. At just half-way of this painful journey the river is to be
passed, and this cannot be done without a ferry, for the moment you
leave the canes, the shallow water begins, and the bottom is so soft,
that any object touching it must sink to a depth of several fathoms.
Till 1834, no white man lived in that district, and the Indians resorted
to it only during the shooting season, always on foot and invariably
provided with half-a-dozen of canoes on each side of the stream for
their own use or for the benefit of travellers. The Texians are not so
provident nor so hospitable.
As the white population increased in that part of the country, a man of
the name of Gibson erected a hut on the southern bank of the stream,
constructed a flat-boat, and began ferrying over at the rate of three
dollars a head. As the immigration was very extensive, Gibson soon grew
independent, and he entered into a kind of partnership with the free
bands which were already organised. One day, about noon, a land
speculator presented himself on the other side of the river, and called
for the ferry. At that moment the sky was covered with dark and heavy
clouds, and flashes of lightning succeeded each other in every
direction; in fact, every thing proved that the evening would not pass
without one of those dreadful storms so common in that country during
the months of April and May. Gibson soon appeared in his boat, but
instead of casting it loose, he entered into a conversation.
"Where do you come from, eh?"
"From the settlements," answered the stranger.
"You've a ticklish, muddish kind of a river to pass."
"Aye," replied the other, who was fully aware of it.
"And a blackish, thunderish, damned storm behind you, I say."
The traveller knew that too, and as he believed that the conversation
could as well be carried on while crossing over, he added:
"Make haste, I pray, my good man; I am in a hurry, and I should not like
to pass the night here in these canes for a hundred dollars."
"Nor I, for a thousand," answered Gibson. "Well, stranger, what will
you give me to ferry you over?"
"The usual fare, I suppose--two or three dollars."
"Why, that may do for a poor man in fine weather, and having plenty of
time to spare, but I be blessed if I take you for ten times that money
now that you are in so great a hurry and have such a storm behind."
The traveller knew at once he had to deal with a blackguard, but as he
was himself an Arkansas man of the genuine breed, he resolved to give
him a "Roland for an Oliver."
"It is a shameful imposition," he cried; "how much do you want after
all?"
"Why, not a cent less than fifty dollars."
The stranger turned his horse round, as if he would go back but, after a
few moments, he returned again.
"Oh," he cried, "you are a rogue, and take the opportunity of my being
in so great a hurry. I'll give you what you want, but mind I never will
pass this road again, and shall undoubtedly publish your conduct in the
Arkansas newspapers."
Gibson chuckled with delight; he had humbugged a stranger and did not
care a fig for all the newspapers in the world; so he answered, "Welcome
to do what you please;" and, untying the boat, he soon crossed the
stream. Before allowing the stranger to enter the ferry, Gibson
demanded the money, which was given to him under the shape of five
ten-dollar notes, which he secured in his pocket, and then rowed with
all his might.
On arriving on the other side, the stranger led his horse out of the
boat, and while Gibson was stooping down to fix the chain, he gave him a
kick on the temple, which sent him reeling and senseless in his boat;
then taking back his own money, he sprung upon his saddle, and passing
before the cabin, he gently advised Gibson's wife to go and see, for her
husband had hurt himself a little in rowing.
These extortions are so very frequent, and now so well known, that the
poorer classes of emigrants never apply for the ferries, but attempt the
passage just as they can, and when we call to mind that the hundreds of
cases which are known and spoken of must be but a fraction of those who
have disappeared without leaving behind the smallest clue of their
former existence and unhappy fate, the loss of human life within the
last four or five years must have been awful.
Besides the alligator and the cawana, there are in these flyers many
other destructive animals of a terrible appearance, such as the devil
jack diamond fish, the saw fish, the horn fish, and, above all, the much
dreaded gar. The first of these is often taken in summer in the lakes
and bayous, which, deprived of water for a season, are transformed into
pastures; these lakes, however, have always a channel or deeper part,
and there the devil jack diamond has been caught, weighing four hundred
pounds and upwards.
The saw fish is peculiar to the Mississippi and its tributaries, and
varies in length from four to eight feet. The horn fish is four feet
long, with a bony substance on his upper jaw, strong, curved, and one
foot long, which he employs to attack horses, oxen, and even alligators,
when pressed by hunger. But the gar fish is the most terrible among the
American ichthyology, and a Louisiana writer describes it in the
following manner:--
"Of the gar fish there are numerous varieties. The alligator gar is
sometimes ten feet long, and is voracious, fierce, and formidable, even
to the human species. Its dart in rapidity equals the flight of a bird;
its mouth is long, round, and pointed, thick set with sharp teeth; its
body is covered with scale so hard as to be impenetrable by a
rifle-bullet, and which, when dry, answers the purposes of a flint in
striking fire from steel; its weight is from fifty to four hundred
pounds, and its appearance is hideous; it is, in fact, the shark of
rivers, but more terrible than the shark of the sea, and is considered
far more formidable than the alligator himself."
It is, in fact, a most terrible animal. I have seen it more than once
seizing its prey, and dragging it down with the rapidity of an arrow.
One day while I was residing at Captain Finn's upon the Red River, I saw
one of these monsters enter a creek of transparent water. Following him
for curiosity, I soon perceived that he had not left the deep water
without an inducement, for just above me there was an alligator
devouring an otter.
As soon as the alligator perceived his formidable enemy, he thought of
nothing but escape to the shore; he dropped his prey and began to climb,
but he was too slow for the gar fish, who, with a single dart, closed
upon it with extended jaws, and seized it by the middle of the body. I
could see plainly through the transparent water, and yet I did not
perceive that the alligator made the least struggle to escape from the
deadly fangs; there was a hissing noise as that of shells and bones
crushed, and the gar fish left the creek with his victim in his jaws, so
nearly severed in two, that the head and tail were towing on each side
of him.
Besides these, the traveller through rivers and bayous has to fear many
other enemies of less note, and but little, if at all, known to
naturalists. Among these is the mud vampire, a kind of spider leech,
with sixteen short paws round a body of the form and size of the common
plate; the centre of the animal (which is black in any other part of the
body) has a dark vermilion round spot, from which dart a quantity of
black suckers, one inch and a half long, through which they extract the
blood of animals; and so rapid is the phlebotomy of this ugly reptile,
that though not weighing more than two ounces in its natural state, a
few minutes after it is stuck on, it will increase to the size of a
beaver hat, and weigh several pounds.
Thus leeched in a large stream, a horse will often faint before he can
reach the opposite shore, and he then becomes a prey to the gar fish; if
the stream is but small, and the animal is not exhausted, he will run
madly to the shore and roll to get rid of his terrible blood-sucker,
which, however, will adhere to him, till one or the other of them dies
from exhaustion, or from repletion. In crossing the Eastern Texas
bayous, I used always to descend from my horse to look if the leeches
had stuck; the belly and the breast are the parts generally attacked,
and so tenacious are these mud vampires, that the only means of removing
them is to pass the blade of a knife under them and cut them off.
But let us leave these disgusting animals, and return to the upland
woods and prairies, where nature seems ever smiling, and where the
flowers, the birds, and harmless quadrupeds present to the eye a lively
and diversified spectacle. One of the prettiest _coups d'oeil_ in the
world is to witness the gambols and amusements of a herd of horses, or a
flock of antelopes. No kitten is more playful than these beautiful
animals, when grazing undisturbed in the prairies; and yet those who,
like the Indian, have time and opportunity to investigate, will discover
vices in gregarious animals, hitherto attributed solely to man.
It would appear that, even among animals, where there is a society,
there is a tyrant and pariah. On board vessels, in a school, or any
where, if man is confined in space, there will always be some one
lording over the others, either by his mere brutal strength or by his
character; and, as a consequence, there is also another, who is spurned,
kicked, and beaten by his companions, a poor outcast, whom every body
delights in insulting and trampling upon; it is the same among
gregarious brutes. Take a flock of buffaloes or horses, or of
antelopes; the first glance is always sufficient to detect the two
contrasts. Two of the animals will stand apart from the herd, one
proudly looking about, the other timid and cast down; and every minute
some will leave their grazing, go and shew submission, and give a caress
to the one, and a kick or a bite to the other.
Such scenes I have often observed, and I have also witnessed the
consequence, which is, that the outcast eventually commits suicide,
another crime supposed to be practised only by reasoning creatures like
ourselves. I have seen horses, when tired of their pariah life, walk
round and round large trees, as if to ascertain the degree of hardness
required; they have then measured their distance, and darting with
furious speed against it, fractured their skull, and thus got rid of
life and oppression.
I remember a particular instance; it was at the settlement. I was yet a
boy, and during the hotter hours of the day, I used to take my books and
go with one of the missionaries to study near a torrent, under the cool
shade of a magnolia.
All the trees around us were filled with numerous republics of
squirrels, scampering and jumping from branch to branch, and, forgetful
of every thing else, we would sometimes watch their sport for hours
together. Among them we had remarked one, who kept solitary between the
stems of an absynth shrub, not ten yards from our usual station. There
he would lie motionless for hours basking in the sun, till some other
squirrels would perceive him. Then they would jump upon him, biting and
scratching till they were tired, and the poor animal would offer no
resistance, and only give way to his grief by plaintive cries.
At this sight, the good Padre did not lose the opportunity to inculcate
a lesson, and after he had finished speaking, he would strike his hands
together to terrify the assailants.
"Yes," observed I, using his own words, "it is nature."
"Alas! no," he would reply; "'tis too horrible to be nature; it is only
one of the numerous evils generated from society." The Padre was a
great philosopher, and he was right.
One day, while we were watching this pariah of a squirrel, we detected a
young one slowly creeping through the adjoining shrubs; he had in his
mouth a ripe fruit, a parcimon, if I remember right. At every moment he
would stop and look as if he were watched, just as if he feared
detection. At last he arrived near the pariah, and deposited before him
his offering to misery and old age.
We watched this spectacle with feelings which I could not describe;
there was such a show of meek gratitude in the one and happiness in the
other, just as if he enjoyed his good action. They were, however,
perceived by the other squirrels, who sprang by dozens upon them; the
young one with two bounds escaped, the other submitted to his fate. I
rose, all the squirrels vanished except the victim; but that time,
contrary to his habits, he left the shrub and slowly advanced to the
bank of the river, and ascended a tree. A minute afterwards we observed
him at the very extremity of a branch projecting over the rapid waters,
and we heard his plaintive shriek. It was his farewell to life and
misery; he leaped into the middle of the current, which in a moment
carried him to the shallow water a little below.
In spite of his old age, the Padre waded into the stream and rescued the
suicide. I took it home with me, fed it well, and in a short time its
hair had grown again thick and glossy. Although left quite free, the
poor animal never attempted to escape to the woods, and he had become so
tame, that every time I mounted my horse, he would jump upon me and
accompany me on my distant excursions. Eight or ten months afterwards
he was killed by a rattle-snake, who surprised him sleeping upon my
blanket, during one of our encampments.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 1. The puma, or red panther, is also called "American lion,"
"cougar," and in the Western states, "catamount." It was once spread
all over the continent of America, and is even now found, although very
rarely, as far north as Hudson's Bay. No matter under what latitude,
the puma is a sanguinary animal; but his strength, size, and thirst of
blood, vary with the clime.
I have killed this animal in California, in the Rocky Mountains, in
Texas, and in Missouri; in each of these places it presented quite a
different character. In Chili, it has the breadth and limbs approaching
to those of the African lion; to the far north, it falls away in bulk,
until it is as thin and agile as the hunting leopard. In Missouri and
Arkansas, the puma will prey chiefly upon fowls and young pigs; it will
run away from dogs, cows, horses, and even from goats. In Louisiana and
Texas, it will run from man, but it fights the dogs, tears the horse,
and kills the cattle, even the wild buffalo, merely for sport. In the
Anahuar, Cordillieres, and Rocky Mountains, it disdains to fly, becomes
more majestic in its movements, and faces its opponents, from the
grizzly bear to a whole company of traders; yet it will seldom attack
unless when cubbing. In Senora and California it is even more
ferocious. When hungry, it will hunt by the scent, like the dog, with
its nose on the ground. Meeting a frail, it follows it at the rate of
twenty miles an hour, till it can pounce upon a prey; a single horseman,
or an army, a deer, or ten thousand buffaloes, it cares not, it attacks
every thing.
I did not like to interrupt my narrative merely to relate a puma
adventure but during the time that I was with the Comanches, a Mexican
priest, who had for a long time sojourned as instructor among the
Indians, arrived in the great village on his way to Saint Louis,
Missouri, where he was proceeding on clerical affairs. The Comanches
received him with affection, gave him a fresh mule, with new blankets,
and mustered a small party to accompany him to the Wakoes Indians.
The Padre was a highly talented man, above the prejudices of his cast;
he had lived the best part of his life in the wilderness among the wild
tribes on both sides of the Anahuar, and had observed and leaned enough
to make him love "these children of nature." So much was I pleased with
him, that I offered to command the party which was to accompany him. My
request was granted, and having provided ourselves with a long tent and
the necessary provisions, we started on our journey.
Nothing remarkable happened till we arrived at the great chasm I have
already mentioned, when, our provisions being much reduced, we pitched
the tent on the very edge of the chasm, and dedicated half a day to
hunting and grazing our horses. A few deer were killed, and to avoid a
nocturnal attack from the wolves, which were very numerous, we hung the
meat upon the cross pole inside of the tent. The tent itself was about
forty feet long, and about seven in breadth; large fires were lighted at
the two ends, piles of wood were gathered to feed them during the night,
and an old Indian and I took upon us the responsibility of keeping the
fires alive fill the moon should be up.
These arrangements being made, we spread our buffalo-hides, with our
saddles for pillows, and, as we were all exhausted, we stretched
ourselves, if not to sleep, at least to repose. The _Padre_ amused me,
during the major portion of my watch, in relating to me his past
adventures, when he followed the example of all the Indians, who were
all sound asleep, except the one watching at the other extremity of the
tent. This Indian observed to me, that the moon would rise in a couple
of hours, and that, if we were to throw a sufficient quantity of fuel on
the fire, we could also sleep without any fear. I replenished the fuel,
and, wrapping myself in my blanket, I soon fell asleep.
I awoke suddenly, thinking I had heard a rubbing of some body against
the canvass outside of the tent. My fire was totally extinguished, but,
the moon having risen, gave considerable light. The hour of danger had
passed. As I raised my head, I perceived that the fire at the other
opening of the tent was also nearly extinguished; I wrapt myself still
closer, as the night had become cool, and soon slept as soundly as
before.
Once more I was awakened, but this time there was no delusion of the
senses, for I felt a heavy pressure on my chest. I opened my eyes, and
could scarcely refrain from crying out, when I perceived that the weight
which had thus disturbed my sleep was nothing less than the hind paw of
a large puma. There he stood, his back turned to me, and seeming to
watch with great avidity a deer-shoulder suspended above his head. My
feelings at that moment were anything but pleasant; I felt my heart
beating high; the smallest nervous movement, which perhaps I could not
control, would divert the attention of the animal, whose claws would
then immediately enter my flesh.
I advanced my right hand towards the holster, under my head, to take one
of my pistols, but the holsters were buttoned up, and I could not undo
them, as this would require a slight motion of my body. At last I felt
the weight sliding down my ribs fill it left me; and I perceived, that
in order to take a better leap at the meat, the puma had moved on a
little to the left, but in so doing one of his fore paws rested upon the
chest of the _Padre_. I then obtained one of the pistols, and was just
in the act of cocking it under my blanket, when I heard a mingled shriek
and roar. Then succeeded a terrible scuffling. A blanket was for a
second rolled over me; the canvass of the tent was burst open a foot
above me; I heard a heavy fall down the chasm; the _Padre_ screamed
again; by accident I pulled the trigger and discharged my pistol, and
the Indians, not knowing what was the matter, gave a tremendous
war-whoop.
The scenes I have described in so many lines was performed in a few
seconds. It was some time before we could recover our senses and
inquire into the matter. It appeared, that at the very moment the puma
was crouching to take his leap, the _Padre_ awaking, gave the scream:
this terrified the animal, who dashed through the canvass of the tent
above me with the _Padre's_ blanket entangled in his claws.
Poor _Padre_! he had fainted, and continued senseless till daylight,
when I bled him with my penknife. Fear had produced a terrible effect
upon him, and his hair, which the evening before was as black as jet,
had now changed to the whiteness of snow. He never recovered,
notwithstanding the attention shewn to him by the Indians who
accompanied him to Saint Louis. Reason had forsaken its seat, and, as I
leaned some time afterwards, when, being in Saint Louis, I went to the
mission to inquire after him, he died two days after his arrival at the
Jesuits' college.
As to the puma, the Indians found it dead at the bottom of the chasm,
completely wrapped in the blanket, and with most of its bones broken.