The Arkansas advocate., 1834-01-10

the world, in the perfect and thorough ffce- dom of his new fife.
 At length inc business of eating was ov- CT, and etch man produced his ppc-that great comforter in the praifie--and cous menced smoking. The young Lawyer tulr- ed towards his white companions, and re- marked;
 "What a beautiful eveningr'
 "A'n't ltso-was the reply of tall, stout man, in cheerful tone--aAn't i.aa--I told you as much, atore We tulS into the woods. Catch me a-sIeepin' in house-penn'd upp p like rat in trap, and you may say my name ant Tom Ranks.'
 'Fom,' inquired Carlton, the young law i yer, s'where does this river headi''
 "About two hundred miles this side of the Roeky Mountains lisa eaosl chussls of a branch, when mans in u salt prnirie.''
 "Plenty of Indians on it, higher np.a ] "Yes--there's them owdacious Cuman- ches and Caiawas. fve heen men talk q the kaskaias; but there ant no sitch tribe. 1 don't keer who says it.'
 "Why, Tom, Major Long speaks of theni as hunting on tho heads of Red River and the Coiorado.''
 .l don't keer if every man on tho face of the yerth war 10 say t. Ha'n't ! been all tlno' that country! tell yo therc ant no siteh lndian.''
 sifell, we won't dispute about ihat--bul tell me, do you think the Cumanches can ever be civilzedl''
 Civilized! Why, you ant in yernest: You thought as well try to catch streak q lightnin, and put claws to it, and make 1t climb sweet gum. You thought as well talk Q civilizin' them antelope. l he dcrn'd my hidei if any things a-gwyin' to civiiize them varmints but bullet.''
 There was |, short pa,ise-anti the si- lence was broken by the Indian, who raised himself on one knee, uttered the exclama- ton "auaght" and pointed up the rivcr,--- One of the men rolled over, and after ga- zing awhile, answered
 .sIts t'othef Delawar' he has got some- thin, any-how--for he stoops and comes slow"
 The indian brought cascd deer-slin full of honey, for on this stream bees are very abundant. Meat and honey are hunters greatest luxury.
 The night wore away, and one by one tho party sunk asleep. Their fire burnt on un- I til after midnight-and then 1t faded slowly away. The moon though not arisen had begun to glimmer in the east, when runn- Der of dark bodies were 10 be seen Iying here and there on the dark bottom. not far from the camp. You might have taken them for masses of lifeless matter, had it not been for the gradual approach which they were making towards the camp. All the while, there was no sign of conscious- ness among the sleeping hunters, as they lay here and there, around the fire. The bodies approached within about thirty yards, and then quick flash gleamed in inc camp, accompanied by the sharp crack of a rifle and one of the bodies leaped into the air, and fell again, lifeicss on the ground; and al the same moment his companions appears ed leaping towards the camp. A second flash received them as they came, and an- other man staggered and fell The two Delawares sprung behind the trees. Garl- ton was in the act of rising, when an arrow struck him and he reeed against tree and was immediately seized and bound -and after long struggle, the other three shared the same fate. Just then there arose wild yelI,and the two Delawares were seen, each on his horse, dashing thro' the surrounding Indians and fleeing over the plain.
 The reader will now permit mo to pass over some days-and to introduce him to different scene. In the time which we have seen proper to pass over, the Junlan- ches and their prisoners had crossed Red river. and were encamped on inc bosom Of a prairie. Not stream of water-not q tree--not shrub was visible-hIit on all sides extended the immense desert--hard. level, and thinly covered with q short fne grass, now dried and curied by the heat of the sun, and trampled by the nerds of buf- lalo. Round small hole of muddy water stood something ike forty lodges; tall, coni- cal tents of skins, of perfect whiteness.-A- In the east were immense herds of buffalo covering the plain, appearing as though one could walk miles upon them, without touch- ing ground. In the foreground of the buf- z falo were two or three bands of wild horses, and in the west were herds of elk and focks of antelope, careering over the plain. In the Cumanche camp were something like thirty warriors, painted red and armed with their bows and arrows, lances, and round shields streaming with feathers. I They arc not fine looking men. There was a small fire in the middle of the camp, and round 1t were some dozen cid men smoking alternately from pipe with an immensely long sten-with tlleir hair wo- ven behind with buffalo hair, s,to a rope