MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV), FREDERICK MARRYAT [easy novels to read .txt] 📗

Fell Asleep.

 

 

 

I Awoke Suddenly, Thinking I Had Heard A Rubbing Of Some Body Against

The Canvas 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 Till 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 Canvas 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 Scene 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 Canvas 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 Shown To Him By The Indians Who

Accompanied him To St. Louis. Reason Had Forsaken Its Seat, And, As I

Learned some Time Afterwards, When, Being In st. 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.]

 

 

 

The Amphibious Are The Beaver, The Fresh-Water And Sea-Otter, The

Musk-Rat, And A Species Of Long Lizard, With Sharp Teeth, Very Like The

Cayman As Regards The Head And Tail, But With A Very Short Body. It Is A

Very Fierce Animal, Killing Whatever It Attacks, Dwelling In damp, Shady

Places, In the Juncks, Upon The Borders Of Some Lakes, And Is Much

Dreaded by The Indians; Fortunately, It Is Very Scarce. The Shoshones

Have No Particular Name For It, But Would Sooner Attack A Grizzly Bear

Than This Animal, Which They Have A Great Dread Of, Sometimes Calling It

The Evil Spirit, Sometimes The Scourge, And Many Other Such

Appellations. It Has Never Yet Been Described by Any Naturalist, And I

Never Yet Saw One Dead, Although I Have Heard Of Their Having

Been Killed.

 

 

 

In Texas, The Country Presents Two Different Aspects, Much At Variance

With Each Other, The Eastern Borders, And Sea-Coast Being Only A

Continuation Of The Cypress Swamps, Mud Creeks, And Cane-Brakes Of South

Arkansas, And West Louisiana; While, On The Contrary, The North And West

Offer Much The Same Topography As That Of The Countries I Have Just

Delineated. The Climate In texas Is Very Healthy Two Hundred miles From

The Sea, And One Hundred west Of The Sabine, Which Forms The Eastern

Boundary Of Texas; But To The East And South The Same Diseases And

Epidemics Prevail As In louisiana, Alabama, And The Floridas.

 

 

 

The Whole Of Texas Is Evidently Of Recent Formation, All The Saline

Prairies East Of The Rio Grande Being Even Now Covered with Shells Of

All The Species Common To The Gulf Of Mexico, Mixed up With Skeletons Of

Sharks, And Now And Then With Petrified turtle, Dolphin, Rock Fish, And

Bonitas. A Few Feet Below The Surface, And Hundreds Of Miles Distant

From The Sea, The Sea-Sand Is Found; And Although The Ground Seems To

Rise Gradually As It Recedes From The Shores, The Southern Plains Are

But A Very Little Elevated above The Surface Of The Sea Until You Arrive

At Thirty Degrees North, When The Prairies Begin To Assume An Undulating

Form, And Continually Ascend Till, At The Foot Of The Rocky Mountains,

They Acquire A Height Of Four And Five Thousand Feet Above The Level

Of The Sea.

 

 

 

Texas Does Not Possess Any Range Of Mountains With The Exception That,

One Hundred miles North From San Antonio De Bejar, The San Seba Hills

Rise And Extend Themselves In a Line Parallel With The Rocky Mountains,

As High As The Green Peaks In the Neighbourhood Of Santa Fe. The San

Seba Hills Contain Several Mines Of Silver, And I Doubt Not That This

Metal Is Very Common Along The Whole Range East Of The Rio Grande. Gold

Is Also Found In great Quantities In all The Streams Tributary To The

Rio Puerco, But I Have Never Heard Of Precious Stones Of Any Kind.

 

 

 

Excepting The Woody Districts Which Border Louisiana And Arkansas, The

Greater Proportion Of Texas Is Prairie; A Belt Of Land Commences Upon

One Of The Bends Of The River Brasos, Spreads Northward To The Very

Shores Of The Red river, And Is Called by The Americans "The Cross

Timbers;" Its Natural Productions, Together With Those Of The Prairies,

Are Similar To Those Of The Shoshone Country. Before The Year 1836, And

I Dare Say Even Now, The Great Western Prairies Of Texas Contained more

Animals And A Greater Variety Of Species Than Any Other Part Of The

World Within The Same Number Of Square Miles; And I Believe That The

Sunderbunds In bengal Do Not Contain Monsters More Hideous And Terrible

Than Are To Be Found In the Eastern Portion Of Texas, Over Which Nature

Appears To Have Spread A Malediction. The Myriads Of Snakes Of All

Kinds, The Unaccountable Diversity Of Venomous Reptiles, And Even The

Deadly Tarantula Spider Or "Vampire" Of The Prairies, Are Trifles,

Compared with The Awful Inhabitants Of The Eastern Bogs Swamps, And

Muddy Rivers. The Former Are Really Dangerous Only During Two Or Three

Months Of The Year, And, Moreover, A Considerable Portion Of The Trails

Are Free From Their Presence, Owing To The Fires Which Break Out In the

Dry Grass Almost Every Fall. There The Traveller Knows What He Has To

Fear, And, Independent Of The Instinct And Knowledge Of His Horse, He

Himself Keeps An Anxious Look-Out, Watching The Undulating Motion Of The

Grass, And Ever Ready With His Rifle Or Pistols In the Event Of His

Being Confronted with Bears, Pumas, Or Any Other Ferocious Quadruped. If

He Is Attacked, He Can Fight, And Only Few Accidents Have Ever Happened

In These Encounters, As These Animals Always Wander Alone With The

Exception Of The Wolf, From Whom, However, There Is But Little To Fear,

As, In the Prairies, This Animal Is Always Glutted with Food And Timid

At The Approach Of Man.

 

 

 

As The Prairie Wolf Is Entirely Different From The European, I Will

Borrow A Page Of Ross Cox, Who, Having Had An Opportunity Of Meeting It,

Gives A Very Good Description Of Its Manners And Ways Of Living. Yet As

This Traveller Does Not Describe The Animal Itself, I Will Add, That The

General Colour Of The Prairie Wolf Is Grey Mixed with Black, The Ears

Are Round And Straight, It Is About Forty Inches Long, And Possesses The

Sagacity And Cunning Of The Fox.

 

 

 

"The Prairie Wolves," Says Cox, "Are Much Smaller Than Those Which

Inhabit The Woods. They Generally Travel Together In numbers, And A

Solitary One Is Seldom Met With. Two Or Three Of Us Have Often Pursued

From Fifty To One Hundred, Driving Them Before Us As Quickly As Our

Horses Could Charge.

 

 

 

"Their Skins Are Of No Value, And We Do Not Therefore Waste Much Powder

And Ball In shooting Them. The Indians, Who Are Obliged to Pay Dear For

Their Ammunition, Are Equally Careful Not To Throw It Away On Objects

That Bring No Remunerating Value. The Natural Consequence Is, That The

Wolves Are Allowed to Multiply; And Some Parts Of The Country Are

Completely Overrun By Them. The Indians Catch Numbers Of Them In traps,

Which They Set In the Vicinity Of Those Places Where Their Tame Horses

Are Sent To Graze. The Traps Are Merely Excavations Covered over With

Slight Switches And Hay, And Baited with Meat, &C., Into Which The

Wolves Fall, And Being Unable To Extricate Themselves, They Perish By

Famine Or The Knife Of The Indian. These Destructive Animals Annually

Destroy Numbers Of Horses, Particularly During The Winter Season, When

The Latter Get Entangled in the Snow, In which Situation They Become An

Easy Prey To Their Light-Footed pursuers, Ten Or Fifteen Of Which Will

Often Fasten On One Animal, And With Their Long Fangs In a Few Minutes

Separate The Head From The Body. If, However, The Horses Are Not

Prevented from Using Their Legs, They Sometimes Punish The Enemy

Severely; As An Instance Of This, I Saw One Morning The Bodies Of Two Of

Our Horses Which Had Been Killed the Night Before, And Around Were Lying

Eight Dead And Maimed wolves; Some With Their Brains Scattered about,

And Others With Their Limbs And Ribs Broken By The Hoofs Of The Furious

Animals In their Vain Attempts To Escape From Their Assailants."

 

 

 

Although The Wolves Of America Are The Most Daring Of All The Beasts Of

Prey On That Continent, They Are By No Means So Courageous Or Ferocious

As Those Of Europe, Particularly In spain Or The South Of France, In

Which Countries They Commit Dreadful Ravages Both On Man And Beast;

Whereas A Prairie Wolf, Except Forced by Desperation, Will Seldom Or

Never Attack A Human Being.

 

 

 

I Have Said That The Danger That Attends The Traveller In the Great

Prairies Is Trifling; But It Is Very Different In the Eastern Swamps And

Mud-Holes, Where The Enemy, Ever On The Watch, Is Also Always Invisible,

And Where The Speed of The Horse And The Arms Of The Rider Are Of No

Avail, For They Are Then Swimming In the Deep Water, Or Splashing,

Breast-Deep, In the Foul Mud.

 

 

 

Among These Monsters Of The Swamps And Lagoons Of Stagnant Waters, The

Alligator Ranks The First In size And Voracity; Yet Man Has Nothing To

Fear From Him; And Though There Are Many Stories Among The Cotton

Planters About Negroes Being Carried away By This Immense Reptile, I Do

Firmly Believe That Few Human Beings Have Ever Been Seized alive By The

American Alligator. But Although Harmless To Man, The Monster Is A

Scourge To All Kinds Of Animals, And Principally To Dogs And Horses. It

Often Happens That A Rider Loses His Track Through A Swamp Or A Muddy

Cane-Brake, And Then, If A New Comer In east Texas, He Is Indubitably

Lost. While His Poor Steed is Vainly Struggling In a Yielding Mass Of

Mud, He Will Fall Into A Hole, And Before He Can Regain His Footing, An

Irresistible Force Will Drag Him Deeper And Deeper, Till Smothered. This

Force Is The Tail Of The Alligator, With Which This Animal Masters Its

Prey, No Matter How Strong Or Heavy, When Once Within Its Reach. M.

Audubon Has Perfectly Described its Power: I Will Repeat His Words:--

 

 

 

"The Power Of The Alligator Is In its Great Strength, And The Chief

Means Of Its Attack Or Defence Is Its Large Tail, So Well Contrived by

Nature To Supply His Wants, Or Guard Him From Danger, That It Reaches,

When Curved into A Half-Circle, To His Enormous Mouth. Woe Be To