128 DANGEROUS RIDING. earnest, for it was only by calling aloud to each other that we could keep together, so pitchy was the darkness of the night, and landmarks (even if we could have seen them) there were none. There is, at all times, a despairing sameness in the aspect of a prairie, but with us, the difficulties of 'plumbing the track' (for road there is none) were increased tenfold by darkness, and the watery state of the country. It was impossible to divest oneself of a bewildering fear that each step might plunge one into a bog, or into the far more appalling dangers of the Bay, which rolled somewhere at the depth of a hundred feet beneath us, though of its exact locality the obscurity rendered us entirely ignorant. And so we blundered along—at one moment finding ourselves fixed against a young tree, and at another perceiving, by the fitful gleams of the moon, that we were surrounded by the shining waters of the prairie flood. I thought that midnight march would never come to an end, so interminable were our turnings and doublings, and so little the progress that we made; and I was beginning, in consequence, to think rather gloomily of our prospects for the night, when I was aroused by a sound near me, which bore some faint resemblance to a human voice, in supplication and entreaty. It was the Doctor, in the act of beseeching his refractory steed to move on; so we listened ; and presently, in guttural and most unmusical THE GEOLOGIST'S DISTRESS. 129 phraseology, these plaintive words were heard'I karn nicht get on mit mine horse at arl-what can I do mit him?—he is so idle, and when I want him to go squick, he will here stay to eat.' At that moment, the moon peeped out between two driving clouds, and there was the poor foreigner, and his obstinate monture, fixed as it seemed till eetarnity. The animal's Roman nose was buried in the long grass, and the unhappy doctor was pulling hard, but hopelessly at the rein, with both hands, in the vain expectation of persuading the creature to desist from his ill-timed repast. This touching appeal to the compassion of his companions was not made in vain, and by dint of their united efforts the mule-like animal was once more in motion; and we all eventually, but not till it was three o'clock in the morning, and were wet through (with the heavy night dew) that we reached our temporary home at New Washington. We shall remain here three days longer and then return to Galveston. LETTER XXXIII. A PRAIRIE VISIT NEW SETTLERS CHEERFUL NEGRO HOUSEHOLD-RIFLE SHOOTING-PRETTY THE day following our memorable party in the prairie we agreed to cross the river, on a visit to a still wilder country, and also to the estate and country-house of Mr. A. S, the ex-diplomatist, and also our fellow-guest. We were to cross the water, a long mile in width, in two remarkably rickety boats, nearly as unsafe in their build as canoes, and rendered particularly so at this precise period from the extent to which they were known to leak. The party consisted-besides our two selves-of Mr. A. S -h, the German doctor, and two negroes, experienced in river navigation, one of whom was to seat himself in each boat and paddle her across. The instant that Mr. Sh and I, with our A PRAIRIE VISIT. 131 black companion, stepped into the boat appropriated to our use, we perceived that it would require our united efforts to be employed in incessant baling, if we expected to reach the opposite shore alive. The other boat was, if possible, in a still worse condition, and the doctor (who promised to be a very inefficient auxiliary in case of danger,) was with difficulty persuaded to take his seat, and his baling machine, which machine was neither more nor less than a tin saucepan, devoted pro tempore to this useful and humane purpose. It was a mysterious looking morning, for, though the heat of the sun was great, there was a thick river mist which threw a veil over it and every other object, and sometimes prevented us from seeing a yard a-head of our boat. From the difficulty which we found in keeping our boat even tolerably clear of water, we could judge of the exertions which were being made by our consort to effect the same end, and many was the anxious look I cast astern, but all to no purpose, the mist was too thick, and I could make out nothing of the whereabouts of the other boat. The water is in most places of great depth, but every here and there are shallows which extend for many yards, and which at low water it is necessary to avoid. We continued to bale incessantly, but still the water gradually gained upon us, and it was with no little joy that we at last found ourselves stranded (though 122 GEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES. to which he has devoted himself. He has not a tooth in his head, poor man, but that is not his fault, excepting, perhaps, that (inasmuch as I have remarked this peculiarity as a common one among German students) the inordinate use of tobacco may have some effect in depriving them of their organs of mastication. Dr. R———— is never without a cigar in his mouth (which feature is by no means of even moderate dimensions,) but he is far too good-natured to mind a laugh or a joke, and often makes them himself at the expense of his own personal appearance. The use of soap and water is apparently unknown to our scientific acquaintance, and any change of raiment is a possession which he appears to consider quite unnecessary. His researches amongst the mud of the Texan rivers, and his diggings after geological specimens in the deep alluvial soil of the country, cause great amusement to us all, and especially to the negroes, who take intense delight in watching his proceedings, and in recording the signal mistakes which he (in common with all men of science) is liable sometimes to make. Our host, like all his countrymen, has an ardent, and inherent love for speculation, and he grew quite excited, when one morning the savant, taking one from a heap of small shells, which were lying before the door, announced to us that such a specimen would be worth half-a-dollar at Berlin. |