THE COMANCHES.
The summer passed away in hunting, farm-work, building houses, and other
business, and during this period I had frequently visited the ponds. One
evening I rode to them again in order to begin hunting from that point
the next morning. If I shot buffaloes not too far from my house, I used
to ride back, and at evening drove out with a two-wheeled cart, drawn by
mules, to fetch the meat and salt it for the probable event of a siege.
As I always had an ample supply of other articles for my garrison and
cattle, and as I had plenty of water, I could resist an Indian attack
for a long time. Large herds of buffalo always appear in the
neighbourhood, so soon as the vegetation on the Rocky Mountains begins
to die out, and the cold sets in. They spread over the evergreen
prairies in bands of from five to eight hundred head, and I have often
seen at one glance ten thousand of these relics of the primeval world.
For a week past these wanderers had been moving southwards; but, though
their appearance may be so agreeable to the hunter in these parts, it
reminds him at the same time that his perils are greatly increased by
their advent. Numerous tribes of horse Indians always follow these herds
to the better pasturage and traverse the prairie in every direction, as
they depend on the buffalo exclusively for food. The warmer climate
during the winter also suits them better, as they more easily find
forage for their large troops of horses and mules.
At a late hour I reached the ponds, after supplying myself _en route_
with some fat venison. Before I lit my fire, I also shot two turkeys on
the neighbouring trees, because at this season they are a great dainty,
as they feed on the ripe oily peca-nuts. I sat till late over my small
fire, cut every now and then a slice from the meat roasting on a spit,
and bade my dog be quiet, who would not lie down, but constantly sniffed
about with his broad nose to the ground, and growling sullenly. Czar, on
the contrary, felt very jolly, had abundant food in the prairie grass,
and snorted every now and then so lustily, that the old turkeys round us
were startled from their sleep. It grew more and more quiet. Czar had
lain down by my side, and only the unpleasant jeering too-whoot of the
owl echoed through the night, and interrupted the monotonous chorus of
the hunting wolves which never ceases in these parts. Trusty, my
faithful watchman, was still sitting up with raised nose, when I sank
back on my saddle and fell asleep. The morning was breaking when I
awoke, saturated with dew; but I sprang up, shook myself, made up the
fire, put meat on the spit and coffee to boil, and then leapt into the
clear pond whose waters had so often refreshed me. After the bath I
breakfasted, and it was not till I proceeded to saddle my horse that I
noticed Trusty's great anxiety to call my attention to something. On
following him, I found a great quantity of fresh Indian sign, and saw
that a large number of horses had been grazing round the pond on the
previous day. I examined my horse gear and weapons, opened a packet of
cartridges for my double-barrelled rifle, and then rode in the direction
of the Leone. I had scarce crossed the first upland and reached the
prairie when Czar made an attempt to bolt, and looked round with a
snort. I at once noticed a swarm of Comanches about half a mile behind
me, and coming up at full speed. There was not a moment to lose in
forming a resolution--I must either fly or return to my natural fortress
at the springs. I decided on the latter course, as my enemies were
already too near for my dog to reach the thicket or the Leone before
them, for though the brave creature was remarkably powerful and
swift-footed, he could not beat good horses in a long race.
I therefore turned Czar round, and flew back to the ponds. A narrow
path which I had cut on my first visit through a wall of prickly plants
led to the shady spot between the two ponds, which on the opposite side
were joined by a broad swamp, so that I had only this narrow entrance to
defend. The thicket soon received us. Czar was fastened by the bridle to
a wild grape-vine; my long holster-pistols were thrust into the front of
my hunting-shirt; the belt that held my revolvers was unbuckled, and I
was ready for the attack of the savages. Trusty, too, had put up the
stiff hair on his back, and by his growling showed that he was equally
ready to do his part in the fight. The Indians had come within a few
hundred yards, and were now circling round me with their frightful
war-yell, swinging their buffalo-hides over their heads, and trying, by
the strangest sounds and gestures, either to startle my horse or terrify
me. I do not deny that, although used to such scenes, I felt an icy
coldness down my back at the sight of these demons, and involuntarily
thought of the operation of scalping. I remained as quiet as I could,
however, and resolved not to expend a bullet in vain. The distance was
gradually reduced, and the savages came within about a hundred and fifty
yards, some even nearer. The boldest came within a hundred and twenty
yards of me, while the others shot some dozen arrows at me, some of
which wounded the sappy cactuses around me. The savages continually grew
bolder, and it was time to open the ball, for attacking is half the
battle when engaged with Indians.
I therefore aimed at the nearest man--a powerful, stout, rather elderly
savage, mounted on a very fast golden-brown stallion--and at once saw
that the bullet struck him: in his fall he pulled his horse round
towards me, and dashed past within forty yards, which enabled me to see
that the bullet had passed through his body, and he did not need a
second. About one hundred yards farther on he kissed the ground. After
the shot the band dashed off, and their yell was augmented to a roar
more like that of a wounded buffalo than human voices. They assembled
about half a mile distant, held a short consultation, and then returned
like a whirlwind towards me with renewed yells. The attack was now
seriously meant, although the sole peril I incurred was from arrows shot
close to me. I led Czar a few paces in the rear behind a
widely-spreading yucca, ordered Trusty to lie down under the cactuses,
reloaded my gun, and, being a bit of Indian myself, I disappeared among
the huge aloes in front of me, pulling my stout beaver hat over my eyes.
I allowed the tornado to come within a hundred and sixty paces, when I
raised my good rifle between the aloes, pulled the trigger, and saw
through the smoke a Redskin bound in the air, and fall among the horses'
hoofs. A dense dust concealed the band from sight, but a repetition of
the yells reached my ear, and I soon saw the savages going away from me,
whereon I gave them the contents of the second barrel, which had a good
effect in spite of the distance, as I recognised in the fresh yells
raised and the dispersion of the band. The Indians, ere long, halted a
long way off; but after awhile continued their retreat. I understood
these movements perfectly well: they wanted to give me time to leave my
hiding-place, and then ride me down on the plain. Hence I waited till
the Comanches were nearly two miles off, and watched them through my
glass as they halted from time to time, and looked round at me. I was
certain that we now had a sufficient start to reach the forest on the
Leone without risk. My rifle was reloaded, and my pistols were placed in
the holsters. I stepped out of my hiding-place and mounted my horse,
which bore me at a rapid pace towards my home. The enemy scarce noticed
my flight ere they dashed down from the heights after me like a
storm-cloud. I did not hurry, however, for fear of fatiguing Trusty; but
selected the buffalo paths corresponding with my direction, thousands of
which intersect the prairies like a net, and at the end of the first
mile felt convinced that we should reach the forest all right, which now
rose more distinctly out of the sea of grass. So it was: we dashed into
the first bushes only pursued by five Indians, where I rode behind some
dwarf chestnuts, dismounted, and prepared to receive my enemies. They
remained out of range, however, and in a short time retired again.
My readers will naturally ask why some thirty Indians allowed a single
hunter to emerge from his hiding-place, and why they did not compel him
to surrender by a short siege? The Comanches are horse Indians, who can
only effect anything when mounted, and hence never continue a pursuit
into a thicket. They never undertake any martial exploit by night; and,
moreover, the Indian, when he goes into action, has very different ideas
from a white man; for while the latter always thinks he will be the last
to fall, every Redskin believes that he will be the first to be hit. At
the same time, these tribes set a far higher value on the life of one of
their warriors than we white men do, and they often told me that we
pale-faces grew out of the ground like mushrooms, while it took them
eighteen years to produce a warrior. The tribes are not large; they
consist of only one hundred and fifty to three hundred men; they have
their chief and are quite independent of the other clans, although
belonging to the same nations. The Comanches, for instance, reckon
thirty thousand souls, spread over the whole of the Far West. In
consequence of the many sanguinary wars which the different tribes wage
together, it is frequently of great consequence to a clan, whether it
counts ten men more or less, and hence the anxiety felt by the savages
about the life of their warriors. The Northern Indians have assumed many
of the habits of the white men, and are advancing gradually towards
civilization; they nearly all carry fire-arms, wear clothes, till the
ground, and their squaws, children, and old men, live in villages
together. Our Southern Indians are all at the lowest stage of
civilization, are generally cannibals, have no home, follow the buffalo,
on whose flesh they live, and have assumed none of our customs. At times
they may get hold of a horse-cloth or a bit, which they have taken from
a hunter or stolen from a border settlement, but in other respects they
are children of nature; they go about almost naked, and only carry
weapons of their own manufacture. Their long lance is a very dangerous
weapon, owing to the skill with which they use it; and the same is the
case with their bows, from which they discharge arrows at a distance of
fifty yards, with such accuracy and force, as to pierce the largest
buffalo. The lasso (a plaited rope of leather) is another weapon which
they employ with extraordinary skill; they throw the noose at one end
over the head of an enemy, then gallop off in the opposite direction,
and drag their captive to death. There are but very few foot Indians in
the South; they generally live in the mountains, as they are always at
war with the horse savages, and would be at a disadvantage on the
plains; but they are by far the most dangerous denizens of these parts,
as the most of them are supplied with fire-arms, and try to overpower
their enemy treacherously at night. The Weicos form the chief tribe of
these foot Indians, and are pursued both by the mounted Redskins and the
white borderers like the most dangerous of wild beasts: on their account
I have often spent the night without fire, and have been startled from
my sleep by the whoot of the owl, which they imitate admirably, as a
distant signal to one another. In the conduct of the horse Indians there
is something open and chivalrous, and I never hated them for chasing me;
we contended for the possession of the land, which they certainly held
first, but which nature assuredly created for a better object than that
a few wild hordes should use it for their hunting and war forages. It
always seemed to me an honourable contest between civilization and
savageness when I was attacked by these steppe-horsemen, and I never
felt that blood-thirsty hatred which beset me when I noticed the Weicos
and Tonkaways creeping about like vipers. I more than once all but fell
victim to their cunning, and it is always a pleasant memory that I
frequently punished them severely for it.
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