States of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. By reaching it
we should soon leave privation and fatigue behind us, whereas, on the
contrary, travelling to the north would have added to our sufferings, as
the same level and untenanted prairie extended to the very shores of the
Red River. We consequently determined to force our way through the
thorns and briars, even if we were obliged to cut a road with our knives
and tomahawks. We journeyed on till sunset, when we came to a deep dry
gully, on the very edge of the prickly pear barrier, and there we
encamped for the night. To go farther without something to eat was
impossible. The wild and haggard looks of my companions, their sunken
eyes, and sallow, fleshless faces, too plainly showed that some
subsistence must be speedily provided more nutritious than the unripe
and strongly acidulated fruit presented to us. We drew lots, and the
parson's horse was doomed; in a few minutes, his hide was off, and a
part of the flesh distributed.

The meat of a young mustang is excellent, but that of an old broken-down
horse is quite another affair. It was as tough as india-rubber, and the
more a piece of it was masticated, the larger it became in the mouth. A
man never knows what he can eat, until driven to desperation by a week's
starving, and the jolly parson, who had pledged himself never to eat
even calf's meat, fiercely attacked the leathery remains of his
faithful ambler.

The next morning we directed our steps in a south course, and crossing
the gully, we entered in what appeared to be a passage, or a bear's path
through the prickly pears; but after travelling some six or eight miles,
we found our further progress cut off by a deep and precipitous chasm,
lined with impassable briars. To return was our only alternative, and,
at noon we again found ourselves near to the point from whence we had
started in the morning.

A consultation was now held as to our future course. The lawyers and
Roche proposed to go farther south, and make another attempt, but
recollecting, that on the morning of the preceding day we had passed a
large, though shallow, sandy stream, Gabriel and I thought it more
advisable to return to it. This stream was evidently one of the
tributaries of the Red River, and was running in an easterly direction,
and we were persuaded that it must flow through the chasm, and enter
into the forest.

Our proposal was agreed to, and without any more loss of time, each of
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