ave up his proposal of the
"Gold, Emerald, Topaz, Sapphire, and Amethyst Association, in ten
thousand shares," and vowed he would cast away his lancet and turn cook
in the service of some _bon vivant_, or go to feed the padres of a
Mexican convent. He boasted that he could cook the toughest old woman,
so as to make the flesh appear as white, soft, and sweet as that of a
spring chicken; but upon my proposing to send him, as a _cordon bleu_,
to the Cayugas, in West Texas, or among the Club Indians, of the
Colorado of the West, he changed his mind again, and formed new plans
for the regeneration of the natives of America.

After our supper, we rode our horses to the lake, to water and bathe
them, which duty being performed, we sought that repose which we were
doomed not to enjoy; for we had scarcely shut our eyes when a tremendous
shower fell upon us, and in a few minutes we were drenched to the skin.
The reader may recollect that, excepting Gabriel, we had all of us left
our blankets on the spot where we had at first descried the prairie was
in flames, so that we were now shivering with cold, and, what was worse,
the violence of the rain was such, that we could not keep our fire
alive. It was an ugly night, to be sure; but the cool shower saved the
panting and thirsty animals, for whose sufferings we had felt so much.
All night we heard the deer and antelopes trotting and scampering
towards the lake; twice or thrice the distant roars of the panthers
showed that these terrible animals were quitting our neighbourhood, and
the fierce growling of the contending wolves told us plainly that, if
they were not strong enough to run, they could at least crawl and prey
upon their own dead. It has been asserted that wolves do not prey upon
their own species, but it is a mistake, for I have often seen them
attacking, tearing, and eating each other.

The warm rays of the morning sun at last dispersed the gloom and clouds
of night; deer, elks, and antelopes were all gone except my own stag, to
which I gave a handful of salt, as I had some in my saddle-bags. Some
few mustangs and buffaloes were grazing, but the larger portion,
extending as far as the eye could reach, were still prostrate on the
grass. As to the wolves, either from their greater fatigue they had
undergone, or from their being glutted with the blood and flesh of their
companions, they seemed stiffer than ever. We watered our horses,
replenished our flasks, and, after a he