The Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet in California, Sonora, and Western Texas

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER XXXV.

  The next morning, we all three started, and by noon we had crossed theWashita River. It is the most beautiful stream I know of, being cool andtransparent, averaging a depth of eight or ten feet, and running upon ahard sandy bottom. While we were crossing, Boone told us that as soon aswe arrived at the summit of the woody hills before us, if we lookedsharp, we should see some bears, for he had never passed that waywithout shooting one or two.

  We forded the stream, and entered into a noble forest of maple trees,the ground now rising in gentle swells for several miles, when thefir-pines, succeeding to the maple, told us that we had reached thehighest point of the hills. Hearing some trampling and rustling at adistance, I spurred my horse to take the lead and have the first chanceof a shot, when I perceived to my left, not twenty yards from me and ina small patch of briars, a large she-bear playing with her cub. I wasjust raising my rifle to fire, when Boone's voice called me back, and Iperceived that he and Finn had just dismounted and entered a thicket.Knowing that they must have an object in view, I joined them, and askedthem what was the matter.

  "Rare sport," answered Finn, extending his hand towards a precipitousand rocky part of the mountain.

  It was sport, and of a very singular description.

  A large deer was running at full speed, closely pursued by a puma. Thechase had already been a long one, for as they came nearer and nearer, Icould perceive both their long parched tongues hanging out of theirmouths, and their bounding, though powerful, was no longer so elastic asusual. The deer, having now arrived within two hundred yards of thebear, stopped a moment to sniff the air; then coming still nearer, hemade a bound, with his head extended, to ascertain if Bruin was stillnear him. As the puma was closing with him, the deer wheeled sharpround, and turning back almost upon his own trail, passed within thirtyyards of his pursuer, who, not being able at once to stop his career,gave an angry growl and followed the deer again, but at a distance ofsome hundred yards; hearing the growl, Bruin drew his body half out ofthe briars, remaining quietly on the look-out.

  "Gone," I exclaimed.

  "Wait a bit," answered Boone; "here he comes again."

  He was right; the deer again appeared, coming towards us, but his speedwas much reduced, and as he approached us, it was evident that theanimal was calculating his distance with precision. The puma, nowexpecting to seize his prey, followed about thirty yards behind; thebear, aware of the close vicinity of her enemy, cleared the briars andsquared herself for action, when the deer, with a beautiful and powerfulspring, passed the bear's head and disappeared. At the moment he tookthe leap, the puma was close upon him, and was just balancing himselffor a spring, when he perceived, to his astonishment, that now he wasfaced by a formidable adversary, not the least disposed to fly. Hecrouched, lashing his flanks with his long tail, while the bear, aboutfive yards from him, remained like a statue looking at the puma with hislittle glaring eyes.

  One minute they remained thus; the puma, its sides heaving withexertion, agitated, and apparently undecided; the bear, perfectly calmand motionless. Gradually the puma crawled backwards, till at a rightdistance for a spring, when, throwing all its weight upon its hindparts, to increase its power, it darted upon the bear like lightning,and fixed its claws into her back. The bear, with irresistible force,seized the puma with her two fore-paws, pressing it with all the weightof her body and rolling over it. We heard a heavy grunt, a plaintivehowl, a crashing of bones, and the puma was dead. The cub of the bearcame to ascertain what was going on, and after a few minutes'examination of the victim, it strutted down the slope of the hill,followed by its mother, which was apparently unhurt. We did not attemptto prevent their retreat, for among real hunters in the wilds, there isa feeling which restrains them from attacking an animal which has justundergone a deadly strife. This is a very common practice of the deer,when chased by a puma--that of leading him to the haunt of a bear; Ihave oftened witnessed it, although I never before knew the deer toturn, as it did in this instance.

  This incident reminds me of another, which was witnessed by Gabriel, ashort time before the murder of the Prince Seravalle. Gabriel had lefthis companions, to look after game, and he soon came upon the track of awild boar, which led to a grove of tall persimon trees; then, for thefirst time, he perceived that he had left his pouch and powder-horn inthe camp; but he cared little about it, as he knew that his aim wascertain. When within sixty yards of the grove, he spied the boar at thefoot of one of the outside trees: the animal was eating the fruit whichhad fallen. Gabriel raised his eyes to the thick-leaved branches of thetree, and perceived that there was a large black bear in the tree, alsoregaling himself with the fruit. Gabriel approached to within thirtyyards, and was quite absorbed with the novelty of the sight.

  At every motion of Bruin, hundreds of persimons would fall down, andthese, of course were the ripest. This the bear knew very well, and itwas with no small jealousy that he witnessed the boar below making soluxurious a meal at his expense, while he could only pick the greenfruit, and that with difficulty, as he dared not trust his body too farupon the smaller limbs of the tree. Now and then he would growlfiercely, and put his head down, and the boar would look at him with apleased and grateful motion of the head, answering the growl by a grunt,just as to say, "Thank you; very polite to eat the green ones and sendme the others." This Bruin understood, and he could bear it no longer;he began to shake the tree violently, till the red persimons fell like ashower around the boar; then there was a duet of growls andgrunts--angry and terrific from the bear above, denoting satisfactionand pleasure on the part of the boar below.

  Gabriel had come in pursuit of the boar, but now he changed his mind,for, considering the present angry mood of Bruin, he was certain to beattacked by him if discovered. As to going away, it was a thing he wouldnot think of, as long as his rifle was loaded; so he waited and watched,until the bear should give him an opportunity of aiming at a vital part.This he waited for in vain, and, on reflection, he determined to woundthe bear: for, knowing the humour of the animal, he felt almost positiveit would produce a conflict between him and the boar, which the bearwould attack in his wrath. He fired; the bear was evidently wounded,although but slightly, and he began roaring and scratching his neck in amost furious manner, and looking vindictively at the boar, which, at thereport of the rifle, had merely raised his head for a moment, and thenresumed his meal. Bruin was certainly persuaded that the wound he hadreceived had been inflicted by the beast below. He made up his mind topunish him, and, to spare the trouble and time of descending, droppedfrom the tree, and rushed upon the boar, which met him at once, and,notwithstanding Bruin's great strength, he proved to him that a tenyears' old wild boar, with seven-inch tusks, was a very formidableantagonist. Bruin soon felt the tusks of the boar ripping him up; tenor twelve streams of blood were rushing from his sides, yet he did notgive way; on the contrary, he grew fiercer and fiercer, and at last theboar was almost smothered under the huge paws of his adversary. Thestruggle lasted a few minutes more, the grunting and growling becomingfainter and fainter, till both combatants lay motionless. They were deadwhen Gabriel came up to them; the bear horribly mangled, and the boarwith every bone of his body broken. Gabriel filled his hat with thepersimons which were the cause of this tragedy, and returned to the campfor help and ammunition.

  Finn, Boone, and I resumed our journey, and after a smart ride of twohours we entered upon a beautiful spot, called "Magnet Cove." This isone of the great curiosities of the Arkansas, and there are few planterswho do not visit it at least once in their lives, even if they have totravel a distance of one hundred miles.

  It is a small valley surrounded by rocky hills, one or two hundred feethigh, and forming a belt, in the shape of a horse-shoe. From these rocksflow hundreds of sulphuric springs, some boiling and some cold, allpouring into large basins, which their waters have dug out during theirconstant flow of so many centuries. These mineral springs are so verynumerous in this part of the country, that they wo
uld scarcely be worthmentioning, were it not that in this valley, for more than a mile incircumference, the stones and rocks, which are of a dull black colourand very heavy, are all magnetic.

  It is a custom for every visitor to bring with him some pieces of iron,to throw against the rocks: the appearance is very strange; oldhorse-shoes, forks, knives, bars of iron, nails, and barrels of pistols,are hanging from the projecting stones, the nails standing upright, asif they were growing. These pieces of iron have themselves become verypowerfully magnetic. I picked up a horse-shoe, which I afterwards foundlifted a bar of steel of two pounds weight.

  Half a mile from this singular spot dwelt another old pioneer, a friendof my companions, and at his cabin we stopped to pass the night. Ourhost was only remarkable for his great hospitality and greatertaciturnity; he had always lived in the wilds, quite alone, and the onlyfew words he would utter were incoherent. It appeared as if his mind wasfixed upon scenes of the past. In his early life he had been one of thecompanions of the celebrated pirate La Fitte, and after the defence ofNew Orleans, in which the pirates played no inconsiderable part (theyhad the management of the artillery), he accepted the free pardon of thePresident, and forcing his way through the forests and swamps ofLouisiana, was never heard of for five or six years. Subsequently,circumstances brought about an intimacy between him and my twocompanions, but, contrary to the habits of pioneers and trappers, henever reverted to his former adventures, but always evaded the subject.

  There were mysterious rumours afloat about treasure which had beenburied by the pirates in Texas, known only to him; a thing notimprobable, as the creeks, lagoons, and bays of that country had alwaysbeen a favourite resort of these freebooters; but nothing had ever beenextracted from him relative to the question. He was now living with anIndian woman of the Flat-head tribe, by whom he had several children,and this was also a subject upon which the western farmers had muchto say.

  Had the squaw been a Creek, a Cherokee, or an Osage woman, it would havecreated no surprise; but how came he in possession of a woman belongingto so distant a tribe? Moreover, the squaw looked so proud, soimperious, so queenly; there was a mystery, which every one was anxious,but unable to solve.

  We left our host early in the morning, and arrived at noon at the hotsprings, where I was to part company with my entertaining companions.

  I was, however, persuaded to remain till the next morning, as Finnwished to give me a letter for a friend of his in South Missouri. Of thehot springs of the Arkansas, I can give no better description, than byquoting the following lines from a Little Rock newspaper:--

  "The warm springs are among the most interesting curiosities of ourcountry: they are in great numbers. One of them, the central one, emitsa vast quantity of water; the ordinary temperature is that of boilingwater. When the season is dry, and the volume of water somewhatdiminished, the temperature of the water increases.

  "The waters are remarkably limpid and pure, and are used by the peoplewho resort there for health, for culinary purposes. They have beenanalyzed, and exhibit no mineral properties beyond common spring water.Their efficacy, then, for they are undoubtedly efficacious to manyinvalids that resort there, results from the shades of the adjacentmountains, and from the cool and oxygenated mountain breeze; theconvenience of warm and tepid bathing; the novelty of fresh and mountainscenery, and the necessity of temperance, imposed by the poverty of thecountry and the difficulty of procuring supplies. The cases in which thewaters are supposed to be efficacious, are those of rheumatic affection,general debility, dyspepsia, and cutaneous complaints. At a few yardsfrom the hot springs is one strongly sulphuric and remarkable for itscoldness. In the wild and mountain scenery of this lonely region, thereis much of grandeur and novelty to fix the curiosity of the loverof nature."

  The next morning I bade farewell to Finn and Boone, and set off on myjourney. I could not help feeling a strange sensation of loneliness, asI passed hill after hill, and wood after wood. It seemed to me as ifsomething was wrong; I talked to myself, and often looked behind to seeif any one was coming my way. This feeling, however, did not last long,and I soon learned that, west of the Mississippi, a man with a purse anda good horse must never travel in the company of strangers, without heis desirous to lose them and his life to boot.

  I rode without stopping the forty-five miles of dreary road which leadsfrom the hot springs to Little Rock, and I arrived in that capitalearly at noon.

  Foreigners are constantly visiting every part of the United States, andyet very few, if any, have ever visited the Arkansas. They seem all tobe frightened away by the numerous stories of Arkansas murders, withwhich a tourist is always certain to be entertained on board one of theMississippi steam-boats. Undoubtedly these reports of murders andatrocities have been, as all things else are in the United States, muchexaggerated, but none can deny that the assizes of Arkansas contain morecases of stabbing and shooting than ten of the other Statesput together.

  The very day I arrived at Little Rock I had an opportunity of witnessingtwo or three of these Arkansas incidents, and also to hear the commentsmade upon them. Legislature was then sitting. Two of the legislatorshappened to be of a contrary opinion, and soon abused each other. Fromwords they came to blows, and one shot the other with one of Colt'srevolving six-barrel pistols. This event stopped legislative businessfor that day; the corpse was carried to the tavern where I had justarrived, and the murderer, having procured bail for two thousanddollars, ran away during the night, and nobody ever thought ofsearching for him.

  The corpse proved to be a bonus for my landlord, who had it deposited ina room next to the bar, and as the news spread, all the male populationof Little Rock came in crowds to see with their own eyes, and to givetheir own opinion of the case over a bottle of wine or a glassof whisky.

  Being tired, I went to bed early, and was just dozing, in spite of theloud talking and swearing below, when I heard five or six shots fired inrapid succession, and followed by yells and screams. I got up andstopped a negro girl, as she was running up-stairs, a picture of terrorand despair.

  "What is the matter, Blackey?" said I, "are they shooting in the bar?"

  "Oh, yes, Massa," she answered, "they shoot terrible. Dr. Francis says,Dr. Grey is a blackguard; Dr. Grey says, Dr. Francis is a ruffian; Dr.Francis shoots with big pistols and kills Dr. Grey; Dr. Grey shoots withother pistols and kills Dr. Francis."

  "What," I exclaimed, "after he was dead?"

  "Oh no, Massa, before he was dead; they shoot together--pan, pan, pan."

  I went downstairs to ascertain the circumstances attending this doublemurder. A coroner's inquest had been held upon the body of thelegislator killed in the morning, and the two surgeons, who had bothdrunk freely at the bar, had quarrelled about the direction which theball had taken. As they did not agree, they came to words; from words toblows; ending in the grand _finale_ of shooting each other.

  I was so sickened and disgusted with the events of one day, that I paidmy bill, saddled my horse myself, and got a man to ferry me over theArkansas river, a noble, broad, and rapid stream, on the southern bankof which the capital is situated. I rode briskly for a short hour, andcamped in the woods alone, preferring their silence and dreariness toremaining to witness, under a roof, further scenes of bloodshedand murder.

  North of the Arkansas river, the population, though rough and "notbetter than it should be," is less sanguinary and much more hospitable;that is to say, a landlord will show you civility for your money, and inBatesville, a city (fifty houses, I think) upon the northern bank of theWhite River, I found thirty generals, judges, and majors, whocondescended to show me every bar in the place, purchasing sundry dozensof Havannahs and drinking sundry long toasts in iced wine, which wineand tobacco, although ordered and consumed by themselves, they left meto pay for, which I was willing to do, as I was informed that thesegentlemen always refrain from paying anything when a stranger ispresent, from fear of wounding his delicacy.

  It was in Batesville that I became e
nlightened as to the western papercurrency, which was fortunate, as I purchased one hundred and fortydollars in "shin plasters," as they call them, for an English sovereign;and for my travelling expenses they answered just as well. In the WhiteRiver ferry-boat I met with one of those itinerant Italian pedlars, whoare found, I think, everywhere under heaven, selling pins, needles, andbadly-coloured engravings, representing all the various passages ofWilliam Tell's history, and the combats during the "three days" in 1830.Although not a refined companion, the Genevese spoke Italian, and I wasdelighted to converse in that soft tongue, not a word of which I hadspoken since the death of Prince Seravalle. I invited my companion tothe principal tavern, and called at the bar for two tumblers oficed-mint tulip.

  "How much?" I asked from the bar-keeper.

  "Five dollars," he answered.

  I was quite thunderstruck, and, putting my money back in my pocket, Itold him I would not pay him at all. The man then began to swear I was aqueer sort of a chap, and wondered how a _gentleman_ could drink at abar and not pay for his liquor.

  "I always pay," I answered, "what others pay; but I will not submit tosuch a swindling, and give five dollars for what Is only worthtwenty-five cents."

  The host then came to me, with a smile.

  "Why, Sir, we don't charge more to you than to others. Five dollars in'shin-plasters,' or twenty-five cents in specie."

  All was thus explained, and the next morning. I satisfied my bill oftwenty-two dollars, with one dollar and twelve cents in silver.

  This may appear strange to the English reader, who prefers bank-notes togold; but he must reflect that England is not Arkansas, and that theBank of England is not the "Real Estate Bank of Arkansas," capital twomillions of dollars.

  Notwithstanding the grandeur of the last five words, I have beenpositively informed that the bank never possessed five dollars, and hadnot been able to pay the poor Cincinnati engraver who made the notes.The merchants of Little Rock, who had set up the bank, were the usualpurchasers of the produce from the farmer; but the credit of the bankwas so bad, that they were obliged to offer three dollars in their notesfor a bushel of wheat, which, in New York, commanded only eighty-fourcents in specie.

  The farmers, however, were as sharp as the merchants, and, compelled todeal with them, they hit upon a good plan. The principal landholders ofevery county assembled, and agreed that they would also have a farmers'bank, and a few months afterwards the country was inundated with notesof six-and-a-quarter, twelve-and-a-half, twenty-five, and fifty cents,with the following inscription: "We, the freeholders and farmers of suchcounty, promise to pay (so much) in Real Estate Bank of Arkansas notes,but not under the sum of five dollars."

  The bankers were caught in their own snares. They were obliged to acceptthe "shin plasters" for the goods in their stores, with the pleasingperspective of being paid back with their own notes, which made theirfaces as doleful as the apothecary who was obliged to swallow hisown pills.