Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1842-08-09


the steep and PERCEPTIONS ent, we again
iourneyed OIL in a northwe course. A
large bear was shortely within a
mile of us, and Maj. Howar arted out
10 run him down. Having upon the
other side of the anius or was
diving him dmec!! v-~S1 Cock
ING a pistol I rod short distance
TO meet him. an he in the act OF TAX ng |
deliberate N : bear, then not more
than eight H., pm me, was surprised |
to nee him turTy somerset and COM
menced kicking y h his hind legs. I'm
seen bv me one ofVur Mexican servants
had crept up close on the opposite side of
my horse, and had noosed the animal
with 7ariat just as | was pulling the trlg-
ger of my pistol. BrYia soon loo sed HIM
selffrom his fastening Ad while running
down the line was 81 "a
We travelled on at unit. near.
~ night, when our Pr was sudden
ly checked by d y hg ravlne or
abyss same two or tn hundred yards
across and probably ousand feet in
dopht. The banks at his place were
nearly perpendicular, and from out the
SIDES projected Jagged rock and ry,stunt-
ed cedars, A few of the latter were also
found on the edge OF the awful gulf. We
travelled mile or two along the banks
but finding it impossible to find crossing
we encamped in hollow among,some dry
cedars. Here finding a large portion
of our badly cured eat was spelling, we
cooked what could tie eaten and threw
much oft away.
Frank Coombs and myself that
night IN q Iiltle sandy gully, 70 BY the
washing of previous rains. bed
it was, too, for about on 10 we
were startled by a trcmendlo Ter
storm. Ia three minutes tim Pre
wet through ard through, ar five
found that we were fairly fid our
rifles and saddles, the latter of h we
used for pillows, being comple; under
wa,er.-We moved to highe ound,
found means 10 set fire 10 a IN &c dry
cedar, once more rolled up in our wet
blankets and after thinking Of home and
IS comforts soon fell asleep.
Never shall | forget that awful night.
The lightning appeared TO be playing
about in the ravine far below us bring
ing out. in BOLD relief the wlldness of its
Scraggy sides. Deafening peals Of thun
der seemed rising from the very bowels
Of the earth, and then mutered away in
the distarce rejoicing, as it were, at their
escape from confinement. The yaw-
ming abyss appearcdto be a workshop for
tie manufacture of the storm, and there
we were at the very doors when the ru-
Ter Of the elements sent forth a specimen
| of his grandest his sublmest work.
Miserable appearance Of our Men Gf-
ter the Storm Sta'ting off TO find a
Passage across the RaUinc-- TridtS--
Difficult Cross,ng--Again on the prai-
ric---Another Shower, at Night.
When morning came we crawled out
from nder our wet and heavy blankets.
and doubt whether a more miserable.
woe begone looking set of unfortunate
have been seen since the passage Of the
Red Sea. Not man. among US but was
as wet as though he had been towtd a
stern ola steamer form the Fails of ST
Anthony 10 the Balrizc and without
tie privilege DIGGING ashore at any Of
the "intermeda'e landings" OF my own
personal appearance | can say nothing,
as among our furniture there was no such
luxury as looking glass; but the unsha
ven faces of my companions resembled
the title pages of so many distress memo.
rial, TO use an old remarks and will not
ffatter myselfthat | differed from them
in the least respect. Each individ. a hair
upon our heads ives sticking out almost
any where and to suit its own convenience
our broad-brimmed hats were mashed,
Topped down, and knocked into, or rather
out Of, all shape and COMBINES our scan
ty and our ragged vestments full of sand
and every che was offering consola.
ton and plying his neighbor with an as
summed sincerity and mock gravity that
would have drawn q horse. laugh from
Werter in his most sorrowiul moments.
Unwilling TO pack our horses with
. wet and heavy blankets we spent some
; two hours in spreading and drying
them as much as possible. In the
meantime a scanty breakfast of half
cooked, half-dried beef was swolIow.
ed,our rifles were discharged, cleaned
and reloaded, and our powder exam
) ined to see that all was right. To
J keep his powder dry.is the first thing
e the prairie traveller thinks of when a
rain comes on and fortunately we
found that ours was all in good order
The immense chasm we were upon
ran nearly north and south, and by
! watching the current of the stream
e far below us-a furious torrent raised
e by the heavy rain--it was seen that il
! rantowards the former point. This
induced Mr.. Hunt to seek a crossing
TO the northward, and after. saddIino
) our horses we started off in that rect.
e ION. We had gone but few mile:
=. before large buffalo dian trails
: were seen running ~ southwes
c course and as we travelled on other.
: were noticed bearing more to the west
Obliged to keep out some distance
!, from the ravine to avoid the small gul
4 lies emptying into it and to cut off the
IS numerous turns about noon we struck
;, large trail running directly west
s This we followed and on reachino I'll