ful aspect. The men were all mounted,
as indeed was nearly the whole army. By grazing and browsing, the
horses, as they moved slowly along at a foot-pace, kept in comfortable
flesh. This rye-field presented the most admirable pasturage for the
horses. Crockett and his comrades dismounted, and turned the animals
loose. There was no danger of their straying far in so fat a field.

Crockett and another man, Vanzant by name, leaving the horses to feed,
pushed across the plain to the forest, in search of some food for
themselves They wandered for some time, and found nothing. At length,
Crockett espied a squirrel on the limb of a tall tree. He shot at the
animal and wounded it but it succeeded in creeping into a small hole in
the tree, thirty feet from the ground. There was not a limb for that
distance to aid in climbing. Still the wants of the party were such
that Crockett climbed the tree to get the squirrel, and felt that he
had gained quite a treasure.

"I shouldn't relate such small matters," he writes, "only to show what
lengths a hungry man will go to, to get something to eat."

Soon after, he killed two more squirrels. Just as he was reloading his
gun, a large flock of fat turkeys rose from the marshy banks of the
creek along which they were wandering, and flying but a short distance,
relighted. Vanzant crept forward, and aiming at a large gobbler, fired,
and brought him down. The flock immediately flew back to near the spot
where Crockett stood. He levelled his rifle, took deliberate aim, and
another fine turkey fell. The flock then disappeared.

The two hunters made the forest resound with shouts of triumph. They
had two large, fat turkeys, which would be looked at wistfully upon any
gourmand's table, and for side-dishes they had three squirrels. Thus
they were prepared for truly a thanksgiving feast. Hastily they
returned with their treasure, when they learned that the others of
their party had found a bee-tree, that is, a tree where a swarm of bees
had taken lodgment, and were laying in their winter stores. They cut
down the tree with their hatchets, and obtained an ample supply of wild
honey. They all felt that they had indeed fallen upon a vein of good
luck.

It was but a short distance from the creek to the gigantic forest,
rising sublimely in its luxuriance, with scarcely an encumbering shrub
of undergrowth. They entered the edge of the forest, built a hot fire,
roasted their game, and, while their horse