n with perfect indifference through a scene, that,
under other circumstances, would have captivated my entire attention. All
the stories that I had heard of mishaps in these endless prairies,
recurred in vivid colouring to my memory, not mere backwoodsman's legends,
but facts well authenticated by persons of undoubted veracity, who had
warned me, before I came to Texas, against venturing without guide or
compass into these dangerous wilds. Even men who had been long in the
country, were often known to lose themselves, and to wander for days and
weeks over these oceans of grass, where no hill or variety of surface
offers a landmark to the traveller. In summer and autumn, such a position
would have one danger the less, that is, there would be no risk of dying
of hunger; for at those seasons the most delicious fruits, grapes, plums,
peaches, and others, are to be found in abundance. But we were now in
early spring, and although I saw numbers of peach and plum-trees, they
were only in blossom. Of game also there was plenty, both fur and feather,
but I had no gun, and nothing appeared more probable than that I should
die of hunger, although surrounded by food, and in one of the most
fruitful countries in the world. This thought flashed suddenly across me,
and for a moment my heart sunk within me as I first perceived the real
danger of my position.

After a time, however, other ideas came to console me. I had been already
four weeks in the country, and had ridden over a large slice of it in
every direction, always through prairies, and I had never had any
difficulty in finding my way. True, but then I had always had a compass,
and been in company. It was this sort of over-confidence and feeling of
security, that had made me adventure so rashly, and spite of all warning,
in pursuit of the mustang. I had not waited to reflect, that a little more
than four weeks' experience was necessary to make one acquainted with the
bearings of a district three times as big as New York State. Still I
thought it impossible that I should have got so far out of the right track
as not to be able to find the house before nightfall, which was now,
however, rapidly approaching. Indeed, the first shades of evening, strange
as it may seem, gave this persuasion increased strength. Home bred and
gently nurtured as I was, my life before coming to Texas had been by no
means one of adventure, and I was so used to sleep with a roof over my
head, that when I