ter, six or eight feet deep, and eighteen or twenty
yards broad. It here describes a curve, enclosing a sort of promontory
or peninsula, at the commencement of which, upstream, the Texian camp
was pitched. At the opposite or lower extremity, but also on the right
bank of the river, was the ancient town of St Antonio, hidden from the
camp by the thick wood that fringes the banks of all Texian streams.
Between us and the town was a maize-field, a mile long, and at that time
lying fallow; opposite to the field, on the left bank, and only
separated from the town by the river, stood the Alamo, the principal
fortress of the province of Texas. The camp itself extended over a space
half a mile in length, surrounded by maize-fields and prairie, the
latter sprinkled with muskeet thickets, and with groups of gigantic
cactuses; in the high grass between which the horses and oxen of our
troops were peaceably grazing. On entering the adjacent fields, the air
was instantly darkened by millions of blackbirds, which rose like a
cloud from the ground, described a few circles, and then again settled,
to seek their food upon the earth. In one field, which had been used as
a place of slaughter for the cattle, whole troops of vultures, of
various kinds, were stalling about amongst the offal, or sitting, with
open beaks and wings outspread, upon the dry branches of the
neighbouring pecan-trees, warming themselves in the sunbeams, no bad
type of the Mexicans; whilst here and there, a solitary wolf or prairie
dog prowled amongst the heads, hides, and entrails of the slaughtered
beasts, taking his breakfast as deliberately as his human neighbours.
The _reveille_ had sounded, and the morning gun been fired from the
Alamo, when presently the drum beat to summon the various companies to
roll-call; and the men were seen emerging from their tents and huts. It
will give some idea of the internal organization of the Texian army, if
I record the proceedings of the company that lay opposite to us, the
soldiers composing which were disturbed by the tap of the drum in the
agreeable occupation of cooking their breakfast. This consisted of
pieces of beef, which they roasted at the fire on small wooden spits.
Soon a row of these warriors, some only half-dressed, stood before the
sergeant, who, with the roll of the company in his hand, was waiting
their appearance; they were without their rifles, instead of which, most
of them carried a bowie-knife in one hand,